THE  LIBRARY 

OF 
THE  UNIVERSITY 

OF  CALIFORNIA 
LOS  ANGELES 


TRAPS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 


AUTHOR   OF    "  FRAUDS   EXPOSED 

(Secretary  and  Chief  Special  Agent  of  the  New  York  Society  for  tht 
Suppression  of  Vice^  and  Post-Office  Inspector)* 

WITH   INTRODUCTION  BY 

J.    M.    BUCKLEY,    D.D. 


FOURTH  EDITION 


FUNK  &  WAGNALLS  COMPANY 

NEW  YORK   AND  LONDON 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1883, 

By  FUNK  &  WAGNALLS, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress  at  Washington,  D.  C. 


INTRODUCTION. 


BEFORE  any  one  consents  to  introduce  a  work  written  by 
another,  three  questions  should  be  settled.  These  are  :  Is  a 
book  upon  the  subject  needed  ?  Is  this  book  adapted  to  be 
useful  ?  Is  the  author  a  person  whose  testimony  is  trustworthy 
and  one  who  can  be  commended  to  the  favorable  consideration 
of  those  who  respect  the  writer  of  the  proposed  introduction  ? 
Nor  are  these  all  the  questions  which  naturally  arise  ;  for  unless 
there  be  something  said  in  the  introduction  which  is  not  con- 
tained in  the  body  of  the  work,  it  is  superfluous  to  write  any- 
thing but  a  simple  word  of  commendation.  Yet  it  would  not 
be  legitimate  to  introduce  wholly  foreign  matter.  Consenting 
to  write  the  introduction  to  Mr.  Comstock's  work,  implies 
that  I  have  determined  these  inquiries  in  the  affirmative. 

The  difference  between  an  ingenuous  and  uncorrupted  youth 
and  one  in  whom  vicious  tastes  and  appetites  have  usurped 
dominion  over  the  better  nature,  is  as  great  as  that  between  a 
healthy  human  body  and  one  infected  with  a  loathsome  disease. 
It  is  a  radical  unlikeness  as  great  as  that  which  exists  between 
an  angel  and  a  demon.  The  absence  of  knowledge  of  evil  in 
youth  has  much  more  to  do  with  innocence  than  many  seem 
to  fancy.  For  the  passions  are  automatic  and  unreasoning  ; 
their  uprisings  are  apparently  natural,  and  when  an  evil  thought 
is  suggested  to  the  mind  of  a  youth  who  is  unaccustomed  to 
nalysis  and  a  creature  of  impulse,  it  becomes  a  self-propagat- 
ng  seed  of  impurity.  Under  the  law  of  Moses  a  man  became 
ceremonially  unclean  who  touched  a  dead  body ;  under  the 
laws  of  human  nature  the  voluntary  cherishing  of  an  impure 


vi  INTRODUCTION. 

thought  is  moral  uncleanness.  Innocent  youths  are  therefore 
exposed  to  danger  of  two  kinds  :  that  what  is  evil  may  be  so 
presented  that  to  their  unsophisticated  understandings  it  will 
not  seem  sinful ;  and  that  when  it  has  entered  their  minds  it 
will  corrupt  their  hearts,  engendering  desires  which  will  antag- 
onize their  purer  aspirations.  The  great  dramatist  says  : 

"  And  ofttimes,  to  win  us  to  our  harm. 
The  instruments  of  darkness  tell  us  truths," 

or  what  seem  to  be  truths.  An  apostle  declares  that,  also  Satan 
cometh  as  an  angel  of  light,  and  he  is  more  dangerous  then  than 
when  he  roars  as  a  lion.  Every  new  generation  of  youth  is 
sent  out  into  the  world  as  sheep  in  the  midst  of  wolves.  The 
danger,  however,  is  not  that  they  will  be  devoured  by  them, 
but  that  they  will  be  transformed  into  wolves.  Traps  are  laid 
for  them  in  every  direction,  —traps  which  count  upon  their 
inexperience  to  gain  the  first  entrance,  but  many  of  them  are 
so  ingeniously  constructed,  that,  once  in  the  trap,  the  victim 
will  love  it  and  press  greedily  forward,  or  even  become  a  decoy 
to  lead  others  into  the  same  or  similar  meshes. 

Warning,  restraints,  guidance  and  sympathy  alone  can  save 
the  youth.  If  the  youth  be  not  saved,  the  next  generation 
must  be  corrupt.  Every  youth  who  goes  astray  is  a  man  or 
woman  lost  for  this  world  and  for  the  next.  This  work  lays 
bare  these  traps  with  a  view,  not  of  instructing  youth  in  the 
wickedness  of  the  world,  but  of  arousing  parents,  teachers,  and 
guardians  to  the  work  of  saving  them,  and  of  pointing  out  the 
best  means,  as  well  as  the  necessity,  of  doing  so.  That  such 
a  book  should  be  written,  I  have  no  doubt ;  that  Mr.  Comstock 
has  had  every  opportunity  to  measure  the  evil  and  to  accumu- 
late the  materials  tor  its  most  striking  presentation,  and  that  he 
can  point  out  what  must  be  done,  are  obvious  to  all. 

The  reader  will  find  that  this  work  does  not  claim  high 
literary  merit.  Its  style  is  that  of  a  man  in  earnest,  who  talks 
straight  on,  who  tries  to  be  understood,  and  to  move  the 
reader.  No  one  but  a  person  absorbed  in  a  great  work  could 


INTRODUCTION.  vii 

write  as  he  does.  His  very  blemishes  are  an  evidence  of  his  sin- 
cerity. Without  approving  all  that  he  has  done,  I  have  on  vari- 
ous occasions  commended  his  work  in  general,  and  gladly  do  so 
now.  Let  "  Traps  for  the  Young"  be  widely  circulated,  not 
among  the  young,  but  among  those  who  have  the  care  of 
them,  among  all  Christians,  patriots,  and  philanthropists.  For 
to  save  the  young  is  the  most  important  and  the  noblest  work 
in  which  either  young  or  old  can  engage. 

J.  M.  BUCKLEY. 
NEW  YORK,  November  13,  1883. 


PREFACE. 


EACH  birth  begins  a  history.  The  pages  are  filled  out,  one 
by  one,  by  the  records  of  daily  life.  The  mind  is  the  source 
of  action.  Thoughts  are  the  aliment  upon  which  it  feeds. 
We  assimilate  what  we  read.  The  pages  of  printed  matter 
become  our  companions.  Memory  unites  them  indissolubly,  so 
that,  unlike  an  enemy,  we  cannot  get  away  from  them.  They 
are  constant  attendants  to  quicken  thought  and  influence  action. 

Good  reading  refines,  elevates,  ennobles,  and  stimulates  the 
ambition  to  lofty  purposes.  It  points  upward.  Evil  reading 
debases,  degrades,  perverts,  and  turns  away  from  lofty  aims  to 
follow  examples  of  corruption  and  criminality. 

This  book  is  designed  to  awaken  thought  upon  the  subject 
of  Evil  Reading,  and  to  expose  to  the  minds  of  parents,  teachers, 
guardians,  and  pastors,  some  of  the  mighty  forces  for  evil  that 
are  to-day  exerting  a  controlling  influence  over  the  young. 
There  is  a  shameful  recklessness  in  many  homes  as  to  what  the 
children  read. 

The  community  is  cursed  by  pernicious  literature.  Igno- 
rance as  to  its  debasing  character  in  numerous  instances,  and 
an  indifference  that  is  disgraceful  in  others,  tolerate  and  sanc- 
tion this  evil. 

Parents  send  their  beloved  children  to  school,  and  text-books 
are  placed  in  their  hands,  while  lesson  after  lesson  and  precept 
after  precept  are  drilled  into  them.  But  through  criminal  in- 
difference to  other  reading  for  the  children  than  their  text- 
books, the  grand  possibilities  locked  up  in  the  future  of  every 
child,  if  kept  pure,  and  all  the  appetites  and  passions  controlled, 
are  often  circumscribed  and  defeated  at  its  threshold  of  life. 
This  book  is  a  plea  for  the  moral  purity  of  children.  It  is  an 
appeal  for  greater  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  those  whose  duty 
it  is  to  think,  act,  and  speak  for  that  very  large  portion  in  the 
community  who  have  neither  intellect  nor  judgment  to  decide 


X  PREFACE. 

what  is  wisest  and  best  for  themselves.  It  brings  to  parents  the 
question  of  their  responsibility  for  the  future  welfare  of  their 
offspring. 

If  a  contagious  disease  be  imported  to  these  shores  in  some 
ship,  at  once  the  vessel  and  her  passengers  are  quarantined. 
The  port  is  promptly  closed  to  the  disease.  The  agent  that 
brings  it  is  estopped  from  entering  the  harbor  until  the  con- 
tagion has  been  removed.  It  is  the  author's  purpose  to  send  a 
message  in  advance  to  parents,  so  that  they  may  avert  from 
their  homes  a  worse  evil  than  yellow  fever  or  small-pox. 
Read  the  facts,  and  let  them  speak  words  of  warning. 

The  author,  during  an  experience  of  nearly  eleven  years,  has 
seen  the  effects  of  the  evils  herein  discussed.  If  strong  language 
is  used,  it  is  because  no  other  can  do  the  subject  justice. 

This  work  represents  facts  as  they  are  found  to  exist.  If  it 
shall  be  the  means  of  arousing  parents  as  to  what  their  children 
read,  of  checking  evil  reading  among  the  young,  or  of  awaken- 
ing a  public  sentiment  against  the  prevailing  wickedness  of  the 
day,  the  writer  will  be  content. 

If  any  one  doubts  the  startling  facts  stated,  let  me  here  place 
on  record  my  entire  readiness  to  sustain  my  assertions  with 
proofs. 

Because  men  will  deny,  scoff,  and  curse  is  no  reason  why 
these  truths  should  not  be  laid  before  the  minds  of  thinking 
men  and  women.  But  few  have  had  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
and  knowing  the  facts  concerning  the  evils  discussed  in  this 
book.  For  the  sake  of  the  thousands  of  children  in  the  land,  I 
appeal  to  every  good  citizen  to  carefully  read  the  following 
pages,  not  to  criticise,  but  to  see  what  can  be  done  to  remedy 
the  evils  discussed. 

Our  youth  are  in  danger ;  mentally  and  morally  they  are 
cursed  by  a  literature  that  is  a  disgrace  to  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tury. The  spirit  of  evil  environs  them. 

Let  no  man  be  henceforth  indifferent.     Read,  reflect,  act. 

ANTHONY  COMSTOCK. 
NEW  YORK,  Oct.  15,  1883. 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

PREFACE  ............     'x 

CHAPTER  I. 
HOUSEHOLD  TRAPS,      .........      7 

CHAPTER  II. 
HOUSEHOLD  TRAPS  (CONTINUED).—  Newspapers,         ...    13 

CHAPTER  III. 
HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND  STORY  PAPERS,    ...  .20 

CHAPTER  IV. 
ADVERTISEMENT  TRAPS,        ........    43 

CHAPTER  V. 
GAMBLING  TRAPS,         .........    5° 

CHAPTER  VI. 
GAMBLING  TRAPS  (CONTINUED).—"  Poke-a-moke,"  or  Policy,    .     77 

CHAPTER  VII. 
GAMBLING  TRAPS  (CONTINUED).—  Pool,        .....    99 

CHAPTER  VIII. 


DEATH-TRAPS  BY  MAIL, 

CHAPTER  IX. 


QUACK  TRAPS, 


CHAPTER  X. 
FREE-LOVE  TRAPS,        .........  I58 


XU  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  XI. 

PACK 

ARTISTIC  AND  CLASSICAL  TRAPS 168 

CHAPTER  XII. 
INFIDEL  TRAPS,  LIBERAL  TRAPS,  ETC., 184 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

MORE  LIBERAL  TRAPS.— The  Question  of  the  Unconstitutionality 

of  the  Law  Answered, 208 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
CONCLUSION, 238 

APPENDIX 247 


TRAPS  FOR  THE  YOUNG. 


CHAPTER   I. 

HOUSEHOLD    TRAPS. 

IT  is  in  the  home  that  we  must  look  for  first  impressions. 
Here  the  foundation  of  the  character  of  the  future  man  or 
woman  is  laid.  Here  the  parent  exerts  an  incalculable  influ- 
ence upon  the  offspring.  Bright  looks  and  sunny  smiles  beget 
joy  and  delight.  Coarse  expressions  and  hasty  speech  are 
closely  followed.  Anecdotes  and  stories  are  remembered  and 
repeated  as  marvellous  to  tell,  and  anything  that  father  or 
mother  does  is  not  questioned.  What  the  parent  allows  is  at 
once  regarded  by  the  child  as  "  just  the  thing  to  do."  Asso- 
ciations of  good  or  evil  nature  are  thus  fixed  in  the  mind  in 
almost  permanent  character. 

Evil  thoughts,  like  bees,  go  in  swarms.  A  single  one  may 
present  itself  before  the  mind.  If  entertainment  be  extended, 
or  place  be  given  it,  at  once  this  vile  fellow  is  found  to  have  an 
immense  train  in  following.  I  repeat  :  their  approach  may 
be  so  secret  and  insidious,  that  but  one  may  be  discerned  at 
first,  and  yet  from  all  sides  they  will  flock,  darkening  the 
eyes  of  the  understanding,  filling  the  ears  of  reason,  until  the 
danger  signals  can  no  longer  be  seen  nor  heard,  and  the  poor 
victim  swiftly  becomes  insensible  to  purity  and  virtue. 

There  is  something  wonderfully  strange  in  the  rapidity  with 
which  youthful  minds  take  up  lewd  thoughts  and  suggestions. 
With  almost  equal  ease  they  throw  them  off  again,  in  the 


8  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

hearing  and  presence  of  others.  Lewd  thoughts  soon  overcome 
native  innocence.  Once  the  mind  becomes  familiar  with  foul 
stories  and  criminal  deeds,  self-respect  at  length  is  lost,  and 
vile  suggestions  flow  freely  from  lips  that  before  would  have 
scorned  them. 

"  Evil  communications  corrupt  good  manners." 

Locke  writes  :  "  I  think  I  may  say,  that  of  all  the  men  we 
meet  with,  nine  parts  of  ten  are  what  they  are,  good  or  evil, 
useful  or  not,  by  their  education.  It  is  that  which  makes  the 
great  difference  in  mankind.  Little  or  almost  insensible 
impressions  on  our  tender  infancies  have  very  important  conse- 
quences ;  and  there  it  is,  as  in  the  fountains  of  rivers,  where  a 
gentle  application  of  the  hand  turns  the  flexible  waters  into 
channels  that  make  them  take  quite  contrary  courses  ;  and,  by 
this  little  direction  given  them  at  first  in  the  source,  they 
receive  different  tendencies,  and  arrive  at  last  at  very  remote 
and  distant  places.  Imagine  the  minds  of  children  as  easily 
turned  this  way  or  that,  as  water  itself. ' ' 

Parents  who  are  vacillating  in  principle,  who  give  up  convic- 
tion to  expediency,  who  have  no  sense  of  honor,  but  let  self- 
interest  control  in  place  of  right,  cannot  expect  their  tender  ones 
to  develop  into  moral  heroes  under  such  influences.  As  well 
attempt  to  secure  the  perfection  of  the  rose,  in  tint  and  odor, 
by  placing  a  plant  in  a  dark  cellar  where  no  light  may  come. 

By  means  of  judicious  education  our  capacities  of  enjoyment 
may  be  enlarged  and  multiplied.  Daily  experience  shows  how 
susceptible  the  infant  mind  is  of  deep  impressions. 

Children  of  strong  affections,  lively  imaginations,  and  ani- 
mated characters  are  more  easily  dazzled  and  drawn  away  by 
the  opinions  and  expressions  of  those  with  whom  they  come 
in  contact,  than  those  possessing  more  sluggish  natures. 

Hazlitt  wrote  that  "  intellect  only  is  immortal,  and  words 
the  only  things  that  last  forever."  Such  a  reflection  weighs 
with  terrible  force  when  we  consider  that  one  cannot  get 
away  from  a  book  that  has  once  been  read.  The  companion- 
ship of  thought  is  more  constant  than  the  closest  friend.  At 


HOUSEHOLD    TRAPS.  9 

all  times  memory  may  bring  it  back.  Unlike  a  visible  enemy, 
it  cannot  be  avoided,  but  once  admitted  to  the  shrine  of  our 
minds,  it  is  there  forever.  The  thought  of  the  power  of  printed 
matter  for  good  or  evil  is  startling,  and  at  times  overwhelming. 
Authors  who,  for  love  of  greed  or  love  of  sensation,  publish  to 
the  world  from  their  prurient  imaginations  impure  and  debas- 
ing thoughts — the  noxious  offspring  of  vice  and  immorality — 
have  a  terrible  responsibility  to  answer  for. 

Consider  some  of  the  devices  to  capture  the  minds  and 
imaginations  of  the  young ;  some  of  the  influences  thrust 
upon  the  rising  generations  ;  some  of  the  companions  of  the 
home  ;  some  of  the  traps  which  the  spirit  of  evil  is  allowed  to 
set  in  the  home  circle. 

After  more  than  eleven  years'  experience  contending  for  the 
moral  purity  of  the  children  of  the  land,  and  seeking  to  pre- 
vent certain  evils  from  being  brought  in  contact  with  this  ever- 
susceptible  class,  I  have  one  clear  conviction,  viz. ,  that  Satan 
lays  the  snare,  and  children  are  his  victims.  His  traps,  like  all 
others,  are  baited  to  allure  the  human  soul. 

There  is  a  great  variety  of  traps  used  by  mankind.  These 
differ  in  their  nature,  form,  and  in  methods  of  setting.  For 
instance,  the  fox-trap,  made  of  steel,  with  its  saw-teeth  jaws,  is 
set  with  mouth  wide  open  at  the  entrance  of  a  burrow  or  in 
the  path  of  sly  Reynard,  and  covered  from  view  with  loose  earth, 
in  order  to  catch  him  as  he  goes  for  his  daily  food. 

The  box- trap,  so  easily  constructed  by  every  country  boy, 
must  be  baited  with  a  sweet  apple  to  tempt  the  rabbit  or 
squirrel. 

The  partridge  snare  must  be  suspended  over  the  rotten 
trunk  of  some  fallen  tree,  along  which  the  festive  bird  drums 
his  wings,  or  suspended  over  an  opening  in  a  bush  fence  with 
a  cleared  path  strewn  with  squawberries  to  allure  this  sly  bird 
into  the  fowler's  hands. 

A  huge  piece  of  tempting  meat  must  be  fastened  in  the  bear- 
trap  to  entice  bruin  from  his  cave  in  the  rocks  and  secure  him 
as  the  trapper's  prey. 


lo  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

The  farmer  places  a  chicken  near  the  aperture  in  the  founda- 
tion wall  of  the  house  or  outbuilding,  after  he  has  concealed 
the  trap  for  the  mink  or  odoriferous  chicken-thief,  who  sleeps 
by  day  and  commits  depredations  by  night  if  he  would  effect 
a  capture.  The  housemaid  knows  that  the  trap  requires  a  bait 
of  fragrant  cheese  for  the  mouse  or  rat. 

Satan  adopts  similar  devices  to  capture  our  youth  and  secure 
the  ruin  of  immortal  souls.  Some  of  these  traps  do  not  of 
necessity  cause  absolute  ruin,  others  do.  Some  are  compara- 
tively harmless,  others  are  dangerous  in  the  extreme.  Those 
referred  to  in  this  chapter  are  the  weakest.  They  are  not 
always  vicious  or  criminal,  except  so  far  as  they  pervert  the 
taste  of  the  young  and  rob  the  child  of  a  desire  for  study.  Of 
this  class  the  love  story  and  cheap  work  of  fiction  captivate 
fancy  and  pervert  taste.  They  defraud  the  future  man  or 
woman  by  capturing  and  enslaving  the  young  imagination. 
The  wild  fancies  and  exaggerations  of  the  unreal  in  the  story 
supplant  aspirations  for  that  which  ennobles  and  exalts.  In 
brief,  these  stories,  that  make  day-dreamers  of  our  children 
and  castle-builders  of  the  student,  are  harmful  just  in  propor- 
tion as  these  results  are  produced.  In  the  home,  at  school, 
and  even  in  the  sanctuary  during  the  solemn  hours  of  worship 
on  the  Sabbath  day,  the  day-dreamer  wanders  away  in  thought 
from  all  that  is  real  and  of  highest  importance,  captivated  by 
pictures  and  scenes  that  never  can  be  realized.  To  one  thus 
beguiled  in  youth  the  future  has  many  sorrows  ;  for  while  the 
victim  seeks  to  realize  his  ideals  in  business  prosperity,  home, 
and  wealth,  the  realities  of  life  constantly  bring  disappointment 
and  sorrow.  They  forget  the  sweet  poet's  admonition, 

"  Life  is  real,  life  is  earnest." 

Nourish  a  generation  on  this  sort  of  mental  food,  and  it  must 
be  apparent  to  any  candid  mind  that  it  will  be  a  generation 
devoid  of  taste  for  that  which  is  pure  and  noble.  This  kind 
begets  vapid,  shallow-minded  sentimentalists.  The  lofty  thought 
they  cannot  understand.  They  would  rate  the  most  interesting 


HOUSEHOLD    TRAPS.  II 

history  as  distasteful,  the  choicest  essay  or  finest  poetry  as  dry 
and  uninteresting. 

To  capture  at  the  threshold  of  life  the  fancies  and  hold 
them  in  bondage  until  fiction  supplants  the  real  and  study 
becomes  irksome,  is  cruel  and  evil.  Proper  ambition  is 
stunted,  and  the  inspiration  of  lofty  aims  is  supplanted  by  the 
vain  imaginings  suggested  by  this  kind  of  light  literature. 

Parents  mourn  that  the  child' s  mind  does  not  go  out  after 
noble  things.  They  cannot  understand  why  it  is  thus.  The 
companion  of  the  child1  s  mind  is  exerting  its  sway,  and  the  evil 
one  is  spreading  his  kingdom.  What  I  have  said  applies  more 
directly  to  the  deluge  of  cheap  sensational  stories  than  to  the 
higher  grades  of  novel  reading. 

In  novel  reading,  however,  in  general,  the  tendency  is  from 
the  higher  to  the  lower  rather  than  from  the  lower  to  the 
higher.  There  are  grave  questions  in  the  minds  of  some  of 
our  best  writers,  and  of  our  most  thoughtful  men  and  women, 
whether  novel  reading  at  its  best  does  not  tend  downward 
rather  than  upward.  Some  have  questioned  whether  persons 
reading  such  authors  as  Mrs.  Southworth  and  Alexander 
Dumas  advance  in  time  to  George  Eliot  and  Sir  Walter  Scott. 
This  grade  is  not  discussed  here.  We  consider  only  the  purely 
sensational  works  of  fiction.  These  create  an  appetite  that  is 
seldom  surfeited.  The  mind  grows  by  what  it  feeds  upon. 
Something  more  highly  colored  and  exaggerated  is  sought  after. 
The  imagination  is  walled  in  like  a  canal,  and  thoughts  run 
down  the  grade  until  the  mind  is  emptied  of  lofty  aims  and 
ambitions,  and  the  soul  is  shrivelled. 

As  the  evening  moth  disappears  at  the  approach  of  day  and 
returns  at  night  to  flutter  about  the  lighted  lamp,  so  these  bats 
of  fancy  may  disappear  when  the  mind  is  occupied,  only  to  re- 
turn in  the  solitary  hour  to  besiege  the  imagination,  calling  the 
thoughts  away  from  the  important  things  of  life.  The  fancies, 
once  turned  in  this  direction,  wear  a  channel,  down  which  dash 
the  thoughts,  gathering  force  like  a  river  as  they  move  away 
from  the  fountain-head. 


12  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

How  many  parents  ever  stop  and  reflect,  in  sober  earnest, 
that  the  minds  of  their  children  are  active  and  open  to  anything 
exciting  ;  that  the  bright  budding  intellect  grasps  with  eager- 
ness every  topic  of  thought  that  fancy  paints  ?  How  often  we 
hear  from  children,  "  Oh,  tell  us  a  story  !"  How  frequently 
the  group  of  romping  boys  and  girls  are  subdued  by  a  story, 
and  how  charmed  a  child  becomes  with  but  a  simple  tale  or 
anecdote  !  Anything  marvellous  or  exciting  is  quickly  appro- 
priated. Parents  forget  that  they  are  expected  and  designed 
by  an  all-wise  Providence  to  think  and  decide  in  these  matters 
for  their  children. 

Light  literature,  then,  is  a  devil-trap  to  captivate  the  child 
by  perverting  taste  and  fancy.  It  turns  aside  from  the  pursuit 
of  useful  knowledge  and  prevents  the  full  development  in  man 
or  woman  of  the  wonderful  possibilities  locked  up  in  the  child  ! 
Why  rob  the  future  ages  of  the  high  order  of  men  and  women, 
which  would  of  necessity  appear  if  the  children  of  to  day  were 
properly  cared  for  and  developed  in  keenest  intellect  and  high- 
est morals  ? 

Aside  from  the  enslavements  to  imagination  and  taste  from 
this  class  of  publications,  alarmingly  prevalent,  many  of  the 
stories,  though  free  from  crime,  lack  a  moral,  contain  insinua- 
tions against  truth,  justice,  and  religion,  and  favor  deceit  and 
lying.  The  tone  is  not  elevating.  They  pave  the  way  for  that 
which  is  worse.  If  children  must  have  stories,  let  parents  pro- 
vide those  that  have  a  high  moral  tone — stories  where  the  hero 
is  not  a  thief,  murderer,  or  desperado,  but  a  moral  hero,  whose 
chief  trait  of  character  is  standing  for  the  right.  Teach  the 
children  to  emulate  deeds  of  heroism  ;  to  stand  for  the  right 
even  though  the  heavens  fall ;  never  to  be  sneered  or  laughed 
into  doing  a  mean  thing,  nor  neglecting  duty. 


CHAPTER   II. 

HOUSEHOLD    TRAPS    (CONTINUED). 

Newspapers. 

ANOTHER  fruitful  source  of  danger  to  the  youth  is  the  sicken- 
ing details  of  loathsome  crimes  as  they  appear  in  many  of  our 
daily  papers. 

The  daily  papers  are  turned  out  by  hundreds  of  thousands 
each  day,  and  while  the  ink  is  not  yet  dry  the  United  Stafes 
mails,  the  express  and  railroad  companies,  catch  them  up,  and 
with  almost  lightning  rapidity  scatter  them  from  Maine  to  Cali- 
fornia. Into  every  city,  and  from  every  city,  this  daily  stream 
of  printed  matter  pours,  reaching  every  village,  town,  hamlet, 
and  almost  every  home  in  the  land.  These  publications  are 
mighty  educators,  either  for  good  or  for  evil.  Sold  at  a  cheap 
price,  from  one  to  five  cents  each,  they  are  within  the  reach  of 
all  classes.  More  :  they  enter  the  homes — often  files  of  them 
are  preserved — and  are  especially  within  the  reach  of  the  chil- 
dren, to  be  read  and  re-read  by  them.  The  father  looks  over 
his  paper  in  the  morning  to  ascertain  the  state  of  the  market, 
to  inform  himself  as  to  the  news  of  the  day.  His  attention  is 
attracted  by  the  heavy  headlines  designed  to  call  especial  atten- 
tion to  some  disgusting  detail  of  crime.  A  glance  discloses  its 
true  character.  He  turns  away  in  disgust,  and  thoughtlessly 
throws  down  in  the  library  or  parlor,  within  reach  of  his  chil- 
dren, this  hateful,  debauching  article,  and  goes  off  to  business 
little  thinking  that  what  he  thus  turns  from  his  child  will  read 
with  avidity. 

There  is  a  wide  difference  between  publishing  a  fact  of  a 
crime  committed  and  making  a  sensational  article  or  short  story, 
containing  all  the  foul  doings  of  corrupt  men  and  women.  It 


14  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

is  bad  enough  to  advertise  crime  by  announcing  the  simple 
truth  that  a  man  has  been  murdered,  that  a  pure  girl  has  been 
ruined,  that  persons  living  in  decent  society  have  been 
divorced,  that  some  man  of  high  standing  has  been  tempted 
and  fallen,  that  some  store  has  been  robbed,  or  any  other  of 
the  long  catalogue  of  crimes  has  been  committed  ;  but  to  give 
the  secret  doings  and  minute  methods  of  any  and  all  of  these 
criminals,  and  then  add  a  display  of  type  to  call  especial  atten- 
tion to  these  vile  doings,  is  often  a  gross  outrage  upon  common 
decency. 

If  a  man  goes  about  removing  swill  and  slops  he  is  called  a 
scavenger.  If  a  person  goes  about  selling  diseased  meats,  de- 
caying fruits,  or  watered  milk,  he  is  at  once  handled  severely 
by  the  press  of  the  land.  Let  a  man  be  discovered  throwing  a 
barrel  of  Paris  green  or  arsenic  into  Croton  reservoirs,  and  he 
would  be  almost  lynched.  What  name  shall  be  applied  to  the 
newspaper  that  gathers  up  the  letters,  of  the  libertine,  the  secret 
doings  of  the  rake,  the  minute  descriptions  of  revolting  crimes, 
the  utterances  of  lips  lost  to  all  shame,  the  oozing  of  corrup- 
tion from  the  debauched,  and  then  weaving  that  into  a  highly 
sensational  story,  decks  it  with  flying  colors  and  peddles  it  out 
each  day  for  the  sake  of  money  !  Be  the  editor's  position 
what  it  may,  he  may  roll  in  wealth  and  stand  at  the  head  of 
society,  such  a  practice  continued  in,  when  he  knows  that  his 
paper  is  entering  the  dwellings  of  youth,  deserves  to  be  charac- 
terized by  every  decent  man  and  woman  as  beneath  the  calling 
of  a  scavenger.  Universal  though  this  practice  be,  it  is  never- 
theless in  fact  a  collecting  of  the  putrid  doings  of  criminals 
and  selling  them  as  wares  of  merchandise.  They  make  these 
sensational  details  of  crime  their  stock  in  trade.  Is  it  not  time 
for  respectable  publishers  to  turn  upon  this  degrading  practice 
and  crush  it  out  of  existence  ?  It  can  easily  be  done  if  those 
who  sit  at  the  head  of  these  mighty  enterprises  will  each  one 
in  his  own  paper  forbid  that  their  sheets  be  longer  defiled  by 
these  details.  Let  the  press,  that  mighty  agency  for  good  or 
evil,  cease  to  display  wickedness  and  sneer  at  religion.  In 


HOUSEHOLD    TRAPS.  15 

place  of  the  leaded  type  at  the  head  of  the  columns  of  shame, 
place  them  at  the  head  of  deeds  of  moral  excellence.  In  place 
of  sneers  against  moral  reforms,  extol  the  lofty  and  good,  and 
seek  out  the  secrets  of  virtue  and  display  them,  and  in  a  few 
years  the  fruitage  of  this  kind  of  seed-sowing  will  be  a  genera- 
tion with  lofty  aims.  Surely  the  harvest  of  criminals  and  weak- 
minded  men  and  women  is  sufficient  to  satisfy  any  but  the 
totally  depraved. 

These  details  familiarize  their  readers  with  crime  ;  they  even 
tend  to  glorify  it.  A  simple  statement  that  a  foul  deed  has 
been  committed  is  sufficient  to  acquaint  the  public  with  that 
fact.  The  youth  who  reads  the  loathsome  details  as  above  de- 
scribed might  almost  as  well  pass  his  time  in  the  society  of 
criminals.  He  could  scarcely  learn  more  of  vice  if  he  associated 
with  thieves,  murderers,  libertines,  and  harlots.  The  presence 
of  the  criminal  would  inspire  a  fear,  and  their  coarse  loud  talk 
ungarnished  by  an  editor's  pen  would  disgust  and  in  part 
counteract  the  force  of  an  evil  example.  The  story  in  the 
paper  puts  them  in  precisely  the  same  companionship,  without  the 
power  by  its  presence  to  create  the  checks  of  fear  and  disgust. 

Is  it  too  much  to  ask  of  the  mighty  press  of  the  land  that 
accounts  of  crimes  shall  not  be  wildly  sensational  nor  specific, 
and  especially  that  those  against  purity  shall  not  be  set  forth 
with  prurient  minuteness  ? 

Again,  aside  from  educating  and  familiarizing  our  youth 
with  crime,  they  furnish  a  fruitful  topic  of  secret  conversation 
for  the  child  with  the  playmate.  Few  children  ask  information 
on  such  matters  from  their  mothers.  They  would  be  ashamed 
to  let  their  parents  know  that  they  think  anything  about  such 
things.  A  mingling  of  shame  and  curiosity  to  know  more 
prompts  them  to  practice  deceit,  and  pretend  ignorance  if  per- 
chance allusion  be  made  to  these  offences,  while  at  the  same 
time  they  are  on  the  alert  for  anything  bearing  on  these  vile 
subjects. 

Our  youth  are  thus  easily  and  early  introduced  into  the  his- 
tory of  secret  workings  of  the  depraved. 


1 6  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG, 

These  are  snares  to  corrupt  by  familiarizing  the  mind  with 
evil  and  leading  thought  down  to  the  sinks  and  slums.  They 
stimulate  ambition  to  imitate  deeds  of  bloodshed  and  despera- 
tion. They  are  worse  than  a  scourge  to  our  children.  They 
make  a  pure  mind  almost  impossible.  They  open  the  way  for 
grossest  evils.  Foul  thoughts  are  the  precursors  of  foul  actions. 

Again,  these  details  serve  as  fingerboards  to  point  the  mind 
of  the  child  to  that  which  follows  in  their  wake.  They  are 
spies,  creeping  into  our  homes,  moving  in  the  midst  of  youth, 
leading  them  from  under  the  parents'  watchful  restraint  and 
care. 

Another  view.  There  is  another  element  for  evil  on  the  in- 
crease. What  parent  would  permit  a  child  to  go  and  spend  an 
evening  in  the  congregation  of  the  scornful,  to  hear  the  great 
American  blasphemer  for  ' '  fifty  cents  per  head  ' '  sneer  at  re- 
ligion, scoff  at  heaven  and  heavenly  things,  and  blaspheme  his 
Maker  ?  Yet,  guard  the  child  as  you  will,  the  next  morning 
this  poison  will  be  served  up  in  the  daily  paper,  and  thrust 
upon  your  child  in  the  home,  unless  it  be  intercepted  and  de- 
stroyed. This  deadly  stream  thus  poured  into  thousands  of 
homes  is  breeding  scoffers  and  breaking  down  the  restraints 
and  counteracting  the  sweet  influences  of  religion.  Remove 
the  thought  of  the  certainty  of  a  final  judgment  or  the  existence 
of  God  from  the  mind  of  many  youth,  and  you  have  bid  for  a 
life  of  self-gratification  and  sin. 

Weekly  Papers. 

Again,  the  accounts  of  crimes  thus  daily  appearing  furnish 
the  subject-matter,  the  very  essence  of  the  vile  weekly  journals 
that  pollute  the  land.  Few  are  aware  of  the  fact  that  many  of 
the  items  that  are  so  revolting  when  condensed  and  grouped 
together  in  the  illustrated  papers  of  crime  are  the  very  same  items 
scattered  one  by  one  each  day  during  the  week,  by  the  daily 
press.  A  cheap  woodcut  Is  added  to  the  display  type  of  the 
daily  press,  and  we  then  have  a  thing  so  foul  that  no  child  can 


HOUSEHOLD    TRAPS.  17 

look  upon  it  and  be  as  pure  afterward.  What  would  be 
thought  of  the  man  who  would  make  a  business  of  collecting 
and  exhibiting  in  public  photographs  of  all  the  different  forms 
of  disease  ?  Yet  the  foul  outcome  and  products  of  crimes,  as 
displayed  from  news-stands  and  shop-windows,  are  none  the 
less  offensive  to  common  decency,  and  are  more  destructive  to. 
good  morals. 

These  weekly  illustrated  papers  are  stanch,  well-constructed 
traps  of  the  devil,  capable  of  catching  and  securely  holding  the 
mind  and  heart  of  the  young,  until  they  yield  a  ready  service 
to  the  father  of  all  evil.  The  men  who  thus  run  a  muck-rake 
through  the  slums  and  sinks  of  crime,  and  then,  for  the  sake 
of  making  money,  do  not  scruple  to  send  innocent  youth  head- 
long to  ruin,  are  greatly  offended  if  aught  be  said  against  their 
enterprises.  They  will  tell  you  with  great  unction,  "  We're 
gentlemen,  we  are,"  "  There's  a  demand  for  these  papers,  or  we 
should  not  print  them  ?"  Yes,  the  daily  descriptions  of  offen- 
sive crimes  has  prepared  the  way  for  this  vile  trash — has  so 
familiarized  the  public  mind  with  these  shocking  things  that 
Pope's  words  receive  a  new  meaning  : 

"  Vice  is  a  monster  of  such  frightful  mien, 
That,  to  be  hated,  needs  but  to  be  seen  ; 
But  seen  too  oft,  familiar  with  her  face, 
We  first  endure,  then  pity,  then  embrace." 

Thus  the  tender  years  of  childhood  and  youth  are  exposed 
to  agencies  of  evil  with  the  tacit  permission  ofttimes  of  the 
parent  and  guardian.  Into  the  very  family  circle  these  educa- 
tors are  allowed  to  come,  encouraging,  ay,  nourishing  by 
their  secret  influences  the  inborn  tendency  to  wrong-doing. 
In  such  an  atmosphere  many  youth  grow  up  to  maturity. 
The  frivolity  of  social  life,  the  sneer  at  religion,  the  mocking 
laugh  of  boon  companions,  the  ribald  joke  now  so  often  heard 
among  young  men,  render  doing  right  hard  and  difficult. 
The  habit  of  slighting  holy  things  becomes  fixed,  the  con- 
science becomes  seared,  and  wrong-doing  is  almost  second  na- 


1 8  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

ture.  The  shrugged  shoulder,  the  tossed  head,  the  curled  lip, 
the  winking  eye  of  evil  companions  more  than  counteract  the 
pleadings  of  the  mother,  the  affectionate  admonition  of  the 
father,  or  the  faithful  words  of  the  pastor.  These  slights  put 
upon  religion  and  upon  standing  for  the  right  require  moral 
courage  to  overcome,  and  till  this  is  exercised  the  downward 
tendency  grows  stronger  and  the  upward  weaker. 

Prayer  is  forgotten,  or  exercised  only  when  conscience  and 
remorse  can  no  longer  be  borne.  The  habit  of  supplication 
learned  at  the  knees  of  a  sainted  mother  is  soon  neglected,  and 
resorted  to  only  as  a  means  of  relief  at  night,  when  alone  and 
a  dread  of  the  future  steals  over  the  victim.  Formal  and  cold 
as  this  exercise  may  be,  by  the  grace  of  God  it  is  no  doubt 
often  the  very  thing  that  saves  our  youth  from  the  curse  and 
final  ruin,  the  outgrowth  of  the  seeds  of  corruption  sown  by 
vile  reading.  Let  not  the  mother's  heart  faint  nor  grow  weary. 
Instil  in  early  youth  thoughts  of  God.  Train  your  children  to 
habitual  calling  upon  God  in  prayer,  and  you  will  thus  start  a 
little  fire  that  will  perchance  burn  its  way  through  the  accumu- 
lated follies  of  youth,  and  in  after  years  reclaim  your  other- 
wise lost  child. 

A  terrible  responsibility  rests  upon  parents  who  fail  to  early 
store  their  children's  minds  with  wholesome  thoughts,  and  pro- 
tect them  from  the  foul  and  criminal  literature  so  fearfully  prev- 
alent. 

In  concluding  this  subject,  permit  a  practical  suggestion. 

Parents  have  a  right,  and  it  is  their  duty,  to  close  the  door  of 
their  home  against  these  evils.  It  is  not  infringing  the  liberty 
of  the  press  to  say,  ' '  These  influences  shall  not  enter  my  home, 
where  my  beloved  children  dwell. ' ' 

Again,  let  every  decent  person  refuse  to  contribute  the  price 
of  an  issue  to  the  support  of  any  journal  that  precipitates  upon 
the  community  this  foulness. 

Let  no  patriot,  no  person  who  has  the  welfare  of  the  rising 
generation  at  heart,  patronize  any  person  who  exposes  to  pub- 
lic view  or  keeps  for  sale  the  vile  and  crime-full  illustrated 


HOUSEHOLD    TRAPS.  19 

papers  of  the  day.  There  are  plenty  of  illustrated  papers  to  be 
had  which  are  free  from  these  evil  influences,  and  these  have 
first  claims  upon  respectable  patronage. 

We  require  an  enlightened  public  sentiment  to  check  these 
streams  of  corruption. 

Patronize  no  news-stand  where  these  criminal  papers  are  kept 
for  sale. 


CHAPTER   III. 

HALF-DIME    NOVELS    AND    STORY    PAPERS. 

AND  it  came  to  pass  that  as  Satan  went  to  and  fro  upon  the 
earth,  watching  his  traps  and  rejoicing  over  his  numerous  vic- 
tims, he  found  room  for  improvement  in  some  of  his  schemes. 
The  daily  press  did  not  meet  all  his  requirements.  The  weekly 
illustrated  papers  of  crime  would  do  for  young  men  and  sports, 
for  brothels,  gin-mills,  and  thieves'  resorts,  but  were  found  to 
be  so  gross,  so  libidinous,  so  monstrous,  that  every  decent  per- 
son spurned  them.  They  were  excluded  from  the  home  on 
sight.  They  were  too  high-priced  for  children,  and  too  cum- 
bersome to  be  conveniently  hid  from  the  parent's  eye  or  car- 
ried in  the  boy's  pocket.  So  he  resolved  to  make  another 
trap  for  boys  and  girls  especially. 

He  also  resolved  to  make  the  most  of  these  vile  illustrated 
weekly  papers,  by  lining  the  news-stands  and  shop-windows 
along  the  pathway  of  the  children  from  home  to  school  and 
church,  so  that  they  could  not  go  to  and  from  these  places  of 
instruction  without  giving  him  opportunity  to  defile  their  pure 
minds  by  flaunting  these  atrocities  before  their  eyes. 

And  Satan  rejoiced  greatly  that  professing  Christians  were 
silent  and  apparently  acquiesced  in  his  plans.  He  found  that 
our  most  refined  men  and  women  went  freely  to  trade  with 
persons  who  displayed  these  traps  for  sale  ;  that  few,  if  any, 
had  moral  ceurage  to  enter  a  protest  against  this  public  dis- 
play of  indecencies,  and  scarcely  one  in  all  the  land  had  the 
boldness  to  say  to  the  dealer  in  filth,  "  I  will  not  give  you  one 
cent  of  my  patronage  so  long  as  you  sell  these  devil-traps  to 
ruin  the  young."  And  he  was  proud  of  professing  Christians 
and  respectable  citizens  on  this  account,  and  caused  honorable 


HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND   STORY  PAPERS.         21 

mention  to  be  made  of  them  in  general  order  to  his  imps, 
because  of  the  quiet  and  orderly  assistance  thus  rendered  him. 

Satan  stirred  up  certain  of  his  willing  tools  on  earth  by  the 
promise  of  a  few  paltry  dollars  to  improve  greatly  on  the  death- 
dealing  quality  of  the  weekly  death-traps,  and  forthwith  came  a 
series  of  new  snares  of  fascinating  construction,  small  and 
tempting  in  price,  and  baited  with  high-sounding  names.  These 
sure-ruin  traps  comprise  a  large  variety  of  half-dime  novels, 
five  and  ten  cent  story  papers,  and  low-priced  pamphlets  for 
boys  and  girls. 

This  class  includes  the  silly,  insipid  tale,  the  coarse,  slangy 
story  in  the  dialect  of  the  barroom,  the  blood-and-thunder 
romance  of  border  life,  and  the  exaggerated  details  of  crimes, 
real  and  imaginary.  Some  have  highly  colored  sensational 
reports  of  real  crimes,  while  others,  and  by  far  the  larger  num- 
ber, deal  with  most  improbable  creations  of  fiction.  The  un- 
real far  outstrips  the  real.  Crimes  are  gilded,  and  lawlessness 
is  painted  to  resemble  valor,  making  a  bid  for  bandits,  brig- 
ands, murderers,  thieves,  and  criminals  in  general.  Who 
would  go  to  the  State  prison,  the  gambling  saloon,  or  the 
brothel  to  find  a  suitable  companion  for  the  child  ?  Yet  a 
more  insidious  foe  is  selected  when  these  stories  are  allowed  to 
become  associates  for  the  child's  mind  and  to  shape  and  direct 
the  thoughts. 

The  finest  fruits  of  civilization  are  consumed  by  these  ver- 
min. Nay,  these  products  of  corrupt  minds  are  the  eggs 
from  which  all  kinds  of  villainies  are  hatched.  Put  the  entire 
batch  of  these  stories  together,  and  I  challenge  the  publishers 
and  venders  to  show  a  single  instance  where  any  boy  or  girl  has 
been  elevated  in  morals,  or  where  any  noble  or  refined  instinct 
has  been  developed  by  them. 

The  leading  character  in  many,  if  not  in  the  vast  majority 
of  these  stories,  is  some  boy  or  girl  who  possesses  usually  ex- 
traordinary beauty  of  countenance,  the  most  superb  clothing, 
abundant  wealth,  the  strength  of  a  giant,  the  agility  of  a  squir- 
rel, the  cunning  of  a  fox,  the  brazen  effrontery  of  the  most 


22  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

daring  villain,  and  who  is  utterly  destitute  of  any  regard  for  the 
laws  of  God  or  man.  Such  a  one  is  foremost  among  despera- 
does, the  companion  and  beau-ideal  of  maidens,  and  the  high 
favorite  of  some  rich  person,  who  by  his  patronage  and  in- 
dorsement lifts  the  young  villain  into  lofty  positions  in  society, 
and  provides  liberally  of  his  wealth  to  secure  him  immunity  for 
his  crimes.  These  stories  link  the  pure  maiden  with  the  most 
foul  and  loathsome  criminals.  Many  of  them  favor  violation 
of  marriage  laws  and  cheapen  female  virtue. 

One  day  while  riding  on  the  cars  I  purchased  a  copy  of  one 
of  these  papers.  It  is  claimed  to  be  "  high-toned."  The 
reader  may  judge  of  the  tone  when  he  learns  that  the  copy  now 
before  me  contains  made-up  stories  with  the  following  crimes 
woven  into  them.  It  must  be  premised  that  the  following  is 
taken  from  a  single  issue,  and  from  parts  of  continued  stories. 
To  complete  the  grand  total  of  infamies  it  would  be  necessary 
to  commence  at  the  beginning  and  go  to  the  end  of  the  frac- 
tional parts  of  the  tales  from  which  these  extracts  are  taken. 

The  gist  of  these  stories  consists  of — 

A  conspiracy  against  a  school-girl. 

One  girl  hired  to  personate  a  rich  girl  and  marry  a  villain  in 
her  stead. 

A  man  murdered  by  being  blown  up  by  explosives. 

A  beautiful  girl,  by  lying  and  deceit,  seeks  to  captivate  one 
whom  she  loves. 

Six  assaults  upon  an  officer  while  resisting  arrests. 

A  conspiracy  against  an  officer  to  prevent  the  arrest  of  a 
criminal. 

A  burglary. 

An  illegitimate  child. 

A  woman  murdered  by  masked  burglars. 

An  attempt  to  force  a  beautiful  girl  to  marry  a  scoundrel  to 
save  her  benefactor. 

Two  attempts  to  coerce  a  girl  to  marry  against  her  wishes. 

One  woman  who  died  in  New  York  comes  to  life  in  Italy. 

Two  attempted  assassinations. 


HALF-DIME   NOVELS  AXD   STORY  PAPERS.         23 

One  confidence  operator  at  work  to  swindle  a  stranger. 

An  assault  on  the  highway. 

A  hired  assassin. 

A  massacre  by  Indians. 

One  babe  stolen  to  substitute  for  another. 

An  attempt  to  murder  a  child. 

Two  women  concealing  their  secretly-born  babes. 

A  rich  man  is  confronted  in  a  castle  by  a  woman  he  has 
ruined,  who  raises  such  an  outcry  that  he  becomes  purple  and 
rigid,  while  blood  gushes  from  his  mouth.  The  woman  takes 
a  vial  from  her  pocket  and  instantly  cures  him. 

One  case  of  clandestine  correspondence  and  meetings  be- 
tween a  girl  and  her  lover.  This  results  in  the  girl  running 
away  at  night  and  getting  married  to  hide  her  shame.  This  is 
followed  by  a  scene  in  their  room,  where  the  husband  refuses 
to  acknowledge  his  wife  publicly  ;  she  being  in  a  delicate  con- 
dition pleads  to  have  the  marriage  made  public.  The  husband 
dares  not  do  this  for  fear  of  arrest  for  other  crimes. 

In  addition  to  the  above  horrors,  as  a  catch-penny  advertise- 
ment to  "  give  tone"  to  this  paper,  on  the  fourth  page  appears 
a  portion  of  a  sermon  by  a  celebrated  Brooklyn  divine. 

As  if  it  were  an  antidote  to  the  sermon,  and  for  fear  some 
good  might  possibly  be  done  by  it,  directly  following  the 
sermon  is  a  story  of  a  heartless  wretch  who  had  married  a 
young  lady  of  "princely  beauty."  He  soon  deserts  her  and 
marries  a  haughty  rich  young  woman.  On  the  way  from  the 
wedding  ceremony  he  passes  his  first  bride,  who  falls  dead  lisp- 
ing his  name.  The  story  leads  this  heartless  villain  to  his 
new  and  elegant  home,  and  makes  him  say  : 

"  Not  within  sight  of  my  window  could  I  bear  the  narrow 
mound  ;  not  within  sound  of  the  voice  of  my  haughty  titled 
bride  should  she  lie.  So  I  carried  her  away  .  .  .  still  in  her 
bridal  gown  of  white,  to  rest  forever." 

Was  ever  such  sacrilege  !  such  a  mixture  of  the  sublime  and 
villainous  !  such  a  monstrous  attempt  to  serve  the  devil  in  the 
livery  of  heaven  ! 


24  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

A  sermon  in  such  a  place  !  Two  columns  of  a  sermon  to 
help  sell  thirty-four  columns  of  such  diabolical  trash  !  Such 
publications  do  more  to  debase  the  young  than  an  endowed 
chair  in  every  college  in  the  land  will  or  can  do  to  ennoble 
them. 

Let  every  candid  reader  say,  after  noting  the  above  bill  of 
fare,  whether  or  no  this  is  a  fit  "  companion"  for  the  "  fire- 
side' '  for  any  person,  old  or  young. 

Again,  many  of  these  publishers  weave  a  tale  upon  some 
startling  crime,  such  as  the  Phoenix  Park  assassins  of  Ireland, 
or  on  the  exploits  of  some  bandit,  and  add  to  the  real  crimes 
most  monstrously  absurd  exaggerations,  dragging  some  beauti- 
ful girl  through  all  the  mire  of  the  most  bloody  scenes,  or 
making  some  boy  a  victor  over  the  most  brutal  of  man-butchers, 
endowing  him  with  abilities  which  eclipse  the  shrewdest  de- 
tective genius  !  These  stories  familiarize  one  with  the  horrors  of 
murder  and  carnage,  adding  to  them  the  seductive  excitements 
of  fiction. 

A  word  about  bound  books. 

Recently  I  purchased  a  book  offered  for  sale  on  the  railroads, 
and  recommended  by  the  newsboy  on  a  train  on  the  Lake 
Shore  and  Michigan  Southern  Railroad  as  the  "  boss  book," 
the  "  fastest  selling  book  of  the  day."  The  web  of  the  story 
consisted  of  four  murders,  three  highway  robberies,  two  burg- 
laries, one  blackmailing  scheme,  three  attempts  to  murder 
women,  one  attempt  to  poison  a  young  woman,  two  conspira- 
cies to  ruin  a  pure  girl,  one  den  of  counterfeiters  in  full  blast, 
two  gambling  hells,  one  confidence  game,  one  brothel,  pro- 
curers abducting  a  young  girl  for  a  rich  man,  three  cases  of 
assault  and  battery,  one  street  fight,  two  dens  of  thieves,  one 
forced  marriage,  two  suicides,  and  oaths,  lies,  wine-drinking, 
smoking  cigars,  et  cetera.  The  character  that  figured  through- 
out all  this  was'  a  beautiful  young  wife,  who  was  the  murderess 
and  principal  actor  in  all  these  horrible  and  disgusting  scenes. 

Again,  these  stories  give  utterly  false  and  debasing  ideas  of 
life.  All  high  moral  purposes  are  made  to  give  way  to  self- 


HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND    STORY  PAPERS.         25 

gratification.  The  great  safeguard  of  human  society — rever- 
ence to  law — is  broken  down.  Disobedience  to  parents  is  en- 
couraged. The  healthful  restraint  of  parental  authority  is 
treated  as  a  species  of  tyranny  which  the  hero  first  chafes  under, 
then  resists,  and  lastly  ignores. 

The  boy  cheats  himself  by  imagining  he  is  doing  a  manly 
thing  when  he  naturally  follows  a  base  example.  To  the 
child  that  chafes  under  home  restraint,  having  taken  the  initia- 
tive step  to  ignore  proper  authority,  a  dangerous  and  lawless  life 
comes  easy. 

Again,  these  stories  breed  vulgarity,  profanity,  loose  ideas 
of  life,  impurity  of  thought  and  deed.  They  render  the  im- 
agination unclean,  destroy  domestic  peace,  desolate  homes, 
cheapen  woman's  virtue,  and  make  foul-mouthed  bullies, 
cheats,  vagabonds,  thieves,  desperadoes,  and  libertines.  They 
disparage  honest  toil,  and  make  real  life  a  drudge  and  burden. 
What  young  man  will  serve  an  apprenticeship,  working  early 
and  late,  if  his  mind  is  filled  with  the  idea  that  sudden  wealth 
may  be  acquired  by  following  the  hero  of  the  story  ?  In  real 
life,  to  begin  at  the  foot  of  the  ladder  and  work  up,  step  by 
step,  is  the  rule  ;  but  in  these  stories,  inexperienced  youth, 
with  no  moral  character,  take  the  foremost  positions,  and  by 
trick  and  device,  knife  and  revolver,  bribery  and  corruption, 
carry  everything  before  them,  lifting  themselves  in  a  few  short 
weeks  to  positions  of  ease  and  affluence.  Moral  courage  with 
such  is  a  thing  to  be  sneered  at  and  despised  in  many  of  these 
stories.  If  one  is  asked  to  drink  and  refuses,  he  is  set  up  and 
twitted  till  he  yields  or  is  compelled  to  by  force.  The  idea  of 
doing  anything  from  principle  is  ridiculous  in  the  extreme.  As 
well  fill  a  kerosene-oil  lamp  with  water  and  expect  a  brilliant 
light.  And  so,  in  addition  to  all  else,  there  is  early  inculcated 
a  distaste  for  the  good,  and  the  piercing  blast  of  ridicule  is 
turned  upon  the  reader  to  destroy  effectually  all  moral  character. 

Many  critics  seem  to  think  it  necessary  to  quote  liberally 
from  these  authors,  to  show  the  dialect  or  to  expose  to  public 
contempt  the  coarse  language  and  worse  morals.  It  is  not  the 


26  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

writer's  purpose  to  quote  these  expressions  or  name  these  pub- 
lications. Those  who  are  informed  on  this  subject  know  what 
is  meant,  and  others  need  not  know  further  than  the  effects. 

1  proceed  to  give  a  truthful  synopsis  of  one  of  the  "  ten- 
cent"  pamphlets  recently  issued  by  a  publisher  of  boy  litera- 
ture in  New  York  City. 

This  book  opens  with  an  account  of  an  assault  on  a  woman. 
It  contains  a  number  of  shooting  scenes.  It  tells  of  several 
seductions  and  murders.  It  describes  with  minuteness  of  de- 
tail a  burglary,  and  a  den  of  thieves  from  which  a  band  of  burg- 
lars and  assassins  is  hired.  It  gives  an  account  of  a  gambling 
saloon,  where  a  young  man  wins  $30,000,  which  in  turn  is 
won  from  him  by  a  beautiful  woman,  whereupon  he  drinks  to 
the  health  of  King  Death  and  shoots  himself  dead.  There  is 
an  account  of  a  negro  and  a  beautiful  but  abandoned  woman 
making  their  home  in  a  cave,  where  in  four  days  they  dig  gold 
to  the  amount  of  $1,750,000,  to  which  they  add  $200,000  by 
speculation  in  Wall  Street.  There  is  a  story  of  a  man  illegally 
imprisoned  and  bound  to  an  iron  bedstead.  Several  prisoners 
are  walled  into  a  room  and  left  to  die,  and  the  monstrous  story 
ends  with  the  man  on  the  iron  bedstead  calling  a  fellow- 
prisoner  to  him,  when  he  discovers  that  he  is  his  father. 
Thereupon  the  son  fastens  his  teeth  into  the  throat  of  his  father 
and  they  die  together. 

This  book  is  in  the  possession  of  the  present  writer,  and  can 
be  seen  by  any  one  who  wants  corroboration  of  the  foregoing 
statement. 

Think  of  feeding  the  youthful  mind  on  such  carrion,  of 
distorting  the  imagination  by  putting  such  abominations  before 
children.  From  examining  a  large  number  of  these  stories,  I 
can  say  that  the  moral  in  a  vast  number  is  not  one  whit  better 
than  the  above.  Trick  and  device,  lying  and  deceit,  dis- 
honesty and  bloodshed,  lawlessness  and  licentiousness,  is  the 
lesson  taught  in  most  of  these  stories. 

These  boy  and  girl  devil-traps  are  ruining  hundreds  of 
youth.  Boys  read  these  stories  almost  incessantly  after  once  a 


HALF-DIME   NOVELS  AND    STORY  PAPERS.         27 

taste  is  acquired.  The  loftiest  ambition  inspired  by  many  of 
these  senseless  exaggerations  is  to  be  a  ' '  tough. "  It  is  but  a 
few  weeks  ago  that  three  young  men  under  twenty  years  of  age 
burglariously  entered  a  saloon  at  night  for  the  purpose  of  rob- 
bery. They  were  all  sons  of  respectable  parents,  but  these 
"  hurrah-for-hades"  publications  had  done  their  work.  While 
robbing  the  saloon,  the  proprietor  heard  them  and  came  down 
to  protect  his  possessions.  As  he  came  down  the  stairs  the  eld- 
est of  the  trio  deliberately  drew  his  revolver  and  shot  him 
down.  After  arrest  this  young  murderer  said,  when  it  was  an- 
nounced that  the  man  was  dead,  ' '  Well,  I  must  be  a  tough  if 
I  have  killed  a  man."  Again  he  said,  "  A  fellow  is  not  con- 
sidered a  tough  till  he  has  downed  his  man. ' '  These  murderers 
have  all  since  been  convicted  and  sentenced,  and  the  publish- 
ers of  this  kind  of  murderous  literature  can  boast  of  three 
more  victims — another  certificate  to  these  cancer- planters  that 
their  productions  are  "  death  sure."  This  young  man  has 
since  been  hanged  at  the  Tombs  in  New  York  City. 

There  is  a  good  deal  of  monkey  in  a  bad  boy.  He  delights 
to  imitate,  and  imagines  himself  capable  of  enjoying  all  the 
celebrity  with  which  his  mind  surrounds  the  character  he  has 
read  about. 

Not  long  ago  at  the  Tombs  a  boy  twelve  years  of  age  was 
brought  in  for  felonious  assault,  and  held  to  await  the  results  of 
shooting  another  boy  of  about  his  own  age.  It  came  out  in 
evidence  that  four  boys  were  gambling  at  cards.  One  of  them 
told  this  boy,  in  a  controversy  they  got  into  over  a  piece  of 
pencil,  he  lied.  This  youthful  gambler,  acting  out  the  story, 
arose  with  impressive  dignity,  no  doubt,  and  said,  ' '  Johnny, 
that's  got  to  be  wiped  out  with  blood,"  and  drawing  his  re- 
volver sent  a  bullet  into  the  head  of  his  little  companion. 

A  lad  sixteen  years  of  age,  after  reading  about  train  wreck- 
ing, tied  a  log  across  a  railroad  over  a  culvert,  and  then  de- 
liberately stationed  himself  upon  the  top  of  a  rail  fence  in  a  field 
a  short  distance  away  to  see  a  train  wrecked.  Providentially 
the  engineer  saw  it  in  time  to  slow  up,  so  that  but  slight  dam- 


»8  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

age  was  done  his  train,  and  but  one  man  killed.  After  the  ar- 
rest of  this  desperado,  he  said  he  "  had  been  reading  about  a 
train  which  had  been  wrecked,  and  thought  he  would  like  to 
see  one  himself. ' ' 

Last  April  another  lad,  fifteen  years  of  age,  was  arrested  after 
three  attempts  to  wreck  a  train  just  beyond  Saratoga.  Pleas- 
ant thought  for  the  traveller,  that  we  are  safe  from  the  armed 
brigands  of  Italy  and  the  outlaws  of  the  plains,  but  in  immi- 
nent danger  from  schoolboys  crazed  by  the  accursed  blood- 
and-thunder  story  papers  !  Only  five  cents  apiece  !  Step  up, 
parents,  and  buy  a  cheap  way  of  getting  rid  of  your  boys  ! 
Supply  these  books  and  papers,  and  your  boy  will  soon  be  be- 
hind prison-bars  and  be  off  your  hands. 

Satan  is  more  interested  in  the  child  than  many  parents  are. 
Parents  do  not  stop  to  think  or  look  for  their  children  in  these 
matters,  while  the  arch-enemy  is  thinking,  watching,  and  plot- 
ting continually  to  effect  their  ruin. 

Thoughtless  parents,  heedless  guardians,  negligent  teachers, 
you  are  each  of  you  just  the  kind  that  old  Satan  delights  to 
see  placed  over  the  child.  He  sets  his  base  traps  right  in  your 
very  presence,  captures  and  ruins  your  children,  and  you  are 
each  of  you  criminally  responsible. 

Take  further  instances  of  the  effect  of  this  class  of  publica- 
tions, and  then  say  if  my  language  is  too  strong.  Does  it 
startle  and  offend  ?  To  startle,  to  awaken,  to  put  you  on  your 
guard,  to  arouse  you  to  your  duty  over  your  own  children,  is 
my  earnest  purpose.  Your  child  is  in  danger  of  having  its  pure 
mind  cursed  for  life. 

A  few  months  ago,  in  a  small  town  in  Massachusetts,  I  ar- 
rested a  young  man  about  twenty-one  years  of  age,  for  sending 
most  obscene  and  foul  matter  by  mail.  '  He  was  in  the  field 
with  his  father  at  work  at  the  time  of  arrest.  He  desired  to 
go  to  his  room  to  change  his  apparel  before  going  to  court 
While  in  his  room,  and  up  to  the  moment  of  the  finding  of  a 
pile  of  these  vile  five-cent  story-papers  in  one  corner,  he  had 
been  perfectly  cool  and  stolid.  When  these  were  discovered, 


HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND   STORY  PAPERS.         29 

he  started  as  though  a  nest  of  adders  had  been  opened,  and 
said  with  great  feeling,  "  There  !  that's  what  has  cursed  me  ! 
That  has  brought  me  to  this  !" 

A  short  time  ago  a  lad  about  thirteen  years  of  age  ran  away 
from  home.  He  had  played  truant  from  school,  and  had  been 
punished  by  his  parent.  This  was  too  much  for  him.  No 
boy  in  the  ten-cent  story  would  stand  that !  He  joined  a  band 
of  youthful  robbers,  who  had  a  rendezvous  in  an  old  unoccu- 
pied house.  He  was  initiated  at  night,  with  ceremonies  and  a 
solemn  oath  to  secrecy,  after  which  a  banquet  was  served.  A 
short  while  afterward  he  was  arrested  for  picking  pockets,  tried, 
convicted,  and  sentenced.  After  sentence,  with  the  brag- 
gadocio of  a  hardened  criminal,  he  said  he  thought  "  a  dime 
novel  could  be  written  about  him  ;  he  had  read  lots  of  them. ' ' 

For  the  benefit  of  boys  who  think  the  imitation  of  the  careers 
portrayed  in  these  vile  stories  such  a  smart  thing  to  do,  let  me 
just  here  present  the  experience  of  one  lad  who  ran  away  to 
become  a  hero. 

He,  like  many  others,  was  ensnared  by  these  crime-breeding 
stories,  upon  which  he  had  been  feeding.  He  thought  it  would 
be  a  grand  thing  to  pattern  after  the  deeds  of  valor  (?)  he  had 
read  about,  and  so  find  fame  and  glory.  He  gathered  a  little 
money  together,  and  ran  away  from  home.  This  is  commonly 
the  first  scene  in  the  story.  His  money  soon  gave  out,  but  no 
glory  or  fame  came.  He  went  to  New  Orleans,  there  had  an 
attack  of  fever,  and  came  very  near  dying  among  strangers. 
After  that  he  went  to  Galveston,  where  he  broke  his  arm. 
Then  he  stole  a  ride  to  Houston  on  a  freight  train,  and  there 
was  pushed  off  the  train,  breaking  two  ribs.  After  recovering 
he  was  wounded  by  a  pistol-shot,  and  then  got  into  a  fight  and 
was  beaten  almost  to  death.  After  this,  to  get  a  living  he  had 
to  sell  papers,  black  boots,  work  in  a  livery-stable,  theatre,  res- 
taurant, cut  heavy  timbers,  and  herd  cattle  on  the  plains  in  the 
far  West. 

Another  illustration  is  the  story  as  told  by  Mrs.  Marie  B. 
Williams,  in  the  Congregalionalist  of  September  28th,  1881. 


30  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

In  a  drunken  brawl  a  young  man  had  stabbed  a  loafer  who 
taunted  him  upon  his  being  a  judge's  son,  and  by  speaking 
insultingly  of  the  youth's  mother.  The  boy  in  a  rage  flew  at 
the  man  and  stabbed  him,  and,  in  turn,  was  badly  beaten  over 
the  head,  receiving  fatal  wounds.  This  youth  had  run  away 
from  home,  and  was  homeless  and  friendless  when  this  good 
Samaritan  found  him  and  ministered  to  him,  by  providing 
comfortable  lodgings,  interesting  friends  in  his  behalf,  and 
securing  a  nurse  to  care  for  him.  I  let  this  lady  tell  the  story 
in  her  own  words,  and  I  ask  closest  attention  to  the  awful  tale 
of  wreck  and  ruin  as  it  falls  from  the  lips  of  the  youthful  vic- 
tim. 

"  '  Yes,  I'm  the  son  of  Judge  W.,  of  Mississippi/  he  said, 
'  but  I  would  never  have  told  it  if  the  doctor  hadn'  t  confessed 
to  me  I  couldn't  live  long.  I  made  him  tell  me,  you  see,  and 
I  don't  much  care.' 

"  '  Do  you  not  wish  me  to  write  to  your  father?'    I  asked. 

"  '  No,  indeed,  not  until  it's  all  over.  I  ran  away  a  year 
ago.' 

' '  '  Were  your  parents  unkind  to  you  that  you  left  them,  and 
won't  you  let  me  tell  them  your  situation  ? ' 

"  '  Unkind  !'  he  repeated,  with  a  sob  ;  '  oh,  I  only  wish  I 
could  remember  a  single  harsh  or  unjust  word  from  them. 
That  would  be  a  little  excuse,  you  know.  No,  they  were  only 
too  indulgent.  I  was  a  little  wild  then,  and  I've  heard  father 
say  after  I'd  sowed  my  wild  oats  I'd  come  out  all  right.  It's 
been  a  heavy  crop,  hasn'  tit?  I  think  he  forgot  that  if  you 
sow  the  seed  you're  bound  to  gather  in  a  harvest.  This  is 
mine.' 

"  '  I  can' t  understand  why  you  left  good  parents  and  home,' 
I  said. 

"'Wait  a  minute;  I'm  coming  to  that.  I'm  almost 
ashamed  to  tell,  it  sounds  so  silly.  You  see  I  had  been  read- 
ing a  great  many  stories  of  adventure.  I  bought  every  new  vol- 
ume as  it  was  issued,  particularly  the series.'  [I  will  not 

name  the  volumes  he  mentioned,  for  they  are  no  worse  than 


HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND    STORY  PAPERS.         31 

thousands  of  others.  ]  '  My  parents  did  not  disapprove  of  these 
books,  and  never  questioned  me  about  them.  They  did  not 
suspect  how  tired  I  was  growing  of  my  dull  life,  and  how  I 
longed  to  imitate  some  of  my  plucky  young  heroes.  I 
thought  as  soon  as  I  was  free,  adventures  would  pile  in  upon 
me.  Then  freedom  was  such  a  great  thing.' 

' '  I  interrupted  him,  '  How  is  it  possible  that  you,  whose 
education  had  been  so  carefully  carried  on,  who  can  even  ap- 
preciate the  beauties  of  classical  literature,  could  be  influenced 
by  that  trash  ? ' 

"  '  I  don' t  know,  but  I  was.  Perhaps  I  really  didn'  t  what 
you  call  "  appreciate"  better  things,  but  just  learned  them  by 
rote  because  I  liked  the  sound.  They  didn't  seem  to  belong 
to  my  real  life,  but  these  stories  did.  They  were  boys  like  my- 
self who  did  these  wonderful  things,  and  who  were  so  brave 
and  reckless,  and  they  lived  in  a  world  like  ours.  Well,  I  ran 
away  ;  I  always  had  plenty  of  money,  and  it  didn' t  give  out  till 
I  got  to  Mexico. ' 

' ' '  Did  you  write  to  your  parents  ? ' 

"  '  I  left  a  letter  telling  them  I  wanted  to  enjoy  a  free  life  and 
depend  on  myself.  When  I  was  tired  I  could  always  come 
home,  I  told  them,  and  they  must  not  fret  about  me. ' 

' '  '  But  why  did  you  not  return  ?  It  could  not  have  taken 
you  long  to  find  out  that  you  were  deceived,  and  that  running 
away  did  not  turn  you  into  a  hero  of  adventure  ? ' 

"  He  laughed  a  hard,  bitter  laugh.  '  Oh,  I  had  adventure 
enough,  but  it  wasn't  of  the  heroic  kind.  I  got  down  so  low, 
with  drinking  and  gambling  and  low  associates,  that  I  didn't 
even  like  to  think  of  home.  Can  you  understand  it,  for  I 
can't?  I  had  been  carefully  raised.  My  associations  were 
among  refined,  virtuous  people,  yet  I  went  down  into  that 
hog's  wallow  as  if  I  had  been  born  to  it.' 

'  Were  you  never  disgusted,  never  repentant  ? ' 

"  '  Sometimes,  for  a  minute  or  two,  but  then  a  drink  or  so 
brought  me  round  again.  Oh,  if  I  could  only  blot  out  that 
wicked  time.' 


32  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

"  '  Make  a  point  for  a  new  life,'  I  said. 

"  '  I  can' t.  If  I  try  and  have  better  thoughts,  the  scenes  of 
vice  come  right  back  to  me  like  a  slap  in  the  face.  They're 
burned  in.  I  can't  get  rid  of  them.  When  you  read  the 
Bible  to  me,  I  see  the  faces  and  I  hear  the  words  which  filled 
those  terrible  dens,  and  I  can  hear  nothing  else.  They  come, 
too,  between  me  and  the  memory  of  my  precious  mother. 
How  dare  I  think  of  her?  Oh,  I  couldn't  look  in  her  dear 
face  again. '  .  .  .  He  said  one  day,  '  They  will  forgive  me, 
and  they  will  not  realize  how  low  I  could  fall.  But  if  they  saw 
me,  why  it  would  haunt  them.  Tell  them  I  was  penitent,  but 
don't  tell  all.  But  warn  all  young  people  whom  you  know  to 
let  those  foolish  books  alone.  They're  very  silly,  but  they  do 
harm  to  many,  and  they've  ruined  me.  They  take  you  one 
step  on  a  bad  road,  and  the  rest  comes  quick  and  easy.' 

"  He  was  very  humble  and  penitent  toward  the  last,  but 
still  between  him  and  the  most  comforting  gospel  promises 
came  that  veil  of  past  sin. 

"  '  If  through  His  infinite  mercy  I  am  ever  forgiven, '  he  said 
faintly,  'don't  you  think  that  I  will  cease  to  remember? 
How  could  I  enter  heaven  with  those  polluting  memories  cling- 
ing to  me.  Oh,  if  I  could  only  forget.'  ' 

Such  are  some  of  the  real  experiences  of  dime-novel  run- 
aways. 

A  few  months  ago  a  young  lad  who  had  been  caught  by 
this  kind  of  trap  organized  a  company  of  boy  bandits  to  go  to 
Texas.  They  had  their  rendezvous  in  a  cave  in  the  woods,  and 
prowled  about  the  country  armed  with  knives  and  revolvers. 
At  night  by  twos  and  threes  these  little  villains  would  patrol  the 
highways,  robbing  passers-by.  At  last  the  leader  started  out, 
determined  to  secure  funds  for  three  of  them  to  go  to  Texas 
with  at  once.  A  gentleman  approached.  This  little  fifteen- 
year-old  murderer  fires  three  shots  after  demanding  "  Your 
money  or  your  life."  One  ball  struck  the  man's  suspender 
buckle  and  glanced  off,  one  his  pocketbook,  and  the  other 
wounded  him  in  the  thigh.  These  youthful  bandits,  then 


HALF-DIME   NOVELS  AND   STORY  PAPERS.         33 

thoroughly  frightened,  rushed  to  their  cave,  changed  their 
clothes,  and  then,  with  reckless  bravado,  after  the  fashion  of 
the  stories,  walked  forth  as  interested  spectators  of  what  was 
going  on.  At  last  they  were  arrested,  indicted,  and  the  leader 
•was  sentenced  to  eight  years'  imprisonment. 

Three  boys,  aged  nine,  twelve,  and  thirteen,  were  arrested 
about  two  o'clock  A.M.  one  night  in  New  York  City  some 
months  ago.  Four  loaded  revolvers  were  found  in  their  pos- 
session, and  a  quantity  of  these  foolish  stories.  They  had  run 
away  from  respectable  homes  in  Worcester,  Mass.,  and  were 
on  their  way  to  Leadville  to  seek  their  fortune.  The  younger 
one  had  stolen  twelve  dollars  from  his  employer,  and  with  this 
these  babes  had  armed  themselves  at  a  junk-store  and  then  set 
out.  The  act  of  these  three  boys  starting  in  life,  and  going 
to  Leadville  on  a  capital  of  twelve  dollars,  is  no  more  absurd 
than  are  the  most  of  the  adventures  published  for  our  boys 
and  girls  in  the  cheap  papers  and  novels  of  the  day. 

A  young  lad  fourteen  years  of  age,  of  respectable  parentage, 
was  a  short  time  ago  apprehended  by  the  writer  for  stealing 
twenty  dollars  from  his  brother.  He  had  in  his  pocket  one  of 
these  papers.  He  promised  to  reform,  and  that  he  would  not 
read  these  papers  any  more.  A  short  time  afterward  he  was 
again  overhauled  for  a  like  offence,  and  had  two  of  these  abom- 
inable papers  of  the  five-cent  series  in  one  pocket,  a  package  of 
cigarettes  and  a  piece  of  plug  tobacco  in  another,  and  his  plun- 
der in  another. 

A  neighbor  called  upon  me  one  day  to  assist  him  in  discov- 
ering a  thief  who  was  systematically  robbing  him  and  his 
friends  in  his  house.  Suspicion  pointed  to  a  young  lad  about 
seventeen  years  of  age,  in  his  employ.  I  interviewed  the  lad- 
At  first  he  was  defiant,  and  dared  me  to  arrest  him  ;  then  he 
began  to  threaten  that  he  would  show  me  up  for  making  him 
out  a  thief ;  then  he  tried  the  pathetic  and  wept  copious  tears, 
and  talked  about  mining  a  poor  boy.  Every  move  he  made 
he  furnished  me  proof  of  his  guilt  by  acting  out  the  different 
characters  of  the  stories.  At  last  he  did  what  I  have  never  yet 


34  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

seen  in  this  class  of  papers — to  wit,  he  confessed  his  guilt.  I 
then  asked  him  what  he  had  been  reading.  He  named  two 
papers  of  the  kind  now  under  discussion,  and  added,  "  I 
never  thought  of  stealing  until  I  began  to  read  these  stories." 

A  sad  sequel  to  this  incident  is,  that  notwithstanding  his  em- 
ployer forgave  him  and  kindly  retained  him  in  his  service,  yet 
he  had  taken  one  false  step,  and  others  naturally  followed.  It 
was  but  a  short  time  afterward  that  the  employer  had  to  dis- 
charge him,  as  he  was  so  diseased  that  he  had  to  be  turned 
away  like  the  leper  of  old,  because  of  his  dissipation. 

The  following  is  cut  from  one  of  the  daily  papers  of  recent 
date,  and  not  only  illustrates  the  fearful  crimes  children  can  be 
guilty  of,  but  also  shows  the  sensational  and  encouraging  tone 
of  the  editor  in  announcing  the  fact : 

' '  A  Youthful  Garroter  and  a  Brave  Little  Maid.  — Charlie 
Gustin,  a  portly  little  gentleman  of  the  mature  age  of  nine, 
who  lives  at  No.  15  Nassau  Street,  called  yesterday  at  No.  62 
Broadway  and  took  his  little  six-year-old  sweetheart,  Lena 
Calhoun,  out  for  a  walk.  They  stopped  at  an  old  woman's 
stand,  and  the  lad  bought  the  girl  an  orange.  He  offered  in 
payment  a  one-dollar  bill,  but  before  the  old  woman  could  take 
it,  Martin  Sullivan,  a  twelve-year-old  highwayman,  who  resides, 
when  he  is  not  on  the  road,  at  No.  45  Washington  Street, 
threw  his  left  arm  around  Charlie's  neck  after  the  style  of  a 
finished  garroter,  silenced  his  call  for  help,  and  with  his  right 
hand  he  seized  the  bill  and  started  to  run.  But  the  brave  Lady 
Lena  caught  hold  of  Sullivan's  legs  and  held  him  firmly,  aided 
by  Charlie,  until  a  towering  policeman  came  up  and  carried 
him  off  to  a  dungeon  vile." 

As  showing  that  the  writer  is  not  alone  in  his  views  as  to  the 
thorough  and  complete  education  given  our  youth  by  these 
publications,  read  what  the  "  funny  man"  of  the  New  York 
Times  satirically  says,  in  his  most  admirable  article  on  ' '  Juve- 
nile Education,"  printed  in  that  paper  recently  : 

"  No  one  who  has  made  a  railway  trip  this  summer,  and  in- 
cidentally examined  the  '  news  offices '  in  country  towns  in 


HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND   STORY  PAPERS.         35 

search  of  something  to  read,  can  have  failed  to  notice  with  pride 
the  splendid  educational  advantages  which  are  offered  to  the 
youth  of  our  happy  land.  The  dime  novel  is  more  plentiful 
than  the  sands  of  a  reasonably  large  sea.  The  old-fashioned 
schools  doubtless  give  a  certain  amount  of  instruction  in  worth- 
less branches  of  knowledge,  such  as  arithmetic,  writing,  and 
spelling,  but  they  no  longer  have  any  important  share  in 
developing  the  character  of  boys,  and  of  fitting  them  for 
the  active  duties  of  criminal  life.  The  dime  novels,  that 
every  boy  buys  or  borrows,  are  the  grand  agency  in  developing 
character,  and  one  may  well  feel  proud  of  the  admirable  and 
thorough  manner  in  which,  for  the  most  part,  the  work  is 
done. 

"  In  the  department  of  murder  the  instruction  given  by  the 
dime-novel  writers  is  all  that  could  be  desired.  There  is  not  a 
possible  method  of  murder  that  is  not  fully  described  and  illus- 
trated by  brilliant  examples  in  these  admirable  educational 
works.  Our  boys  are  taught  where  and  how  to  deal  effective 
stabs,  in  what  part  of  the  body  to  plant  pistol  bullets  to  the  best 
advantage,  and  how  to  handle  poison  skilfully,  and  without  too 
great  danger  of  detection.  Not  only  are  they  taught  how  to 
kill,  but  what  is  of  far  more  consequence,  they  are  deftly  led 
to  look  upon  murder,  not  as  a  repulsive  and  dangerous  task, 
but  as  an  elegant  and  desirable  recreation." 

What  is  so  well  and  sarcastically  said  about  educating  our 
youth  to  murder  applies  to  all  other  felonies,  and  what  he  says 
about  dime  novels  as  educators  applies  with  equal  force  to  the 
sickening  details  of  revolting  crimes  as  published  in  the  daily 
papers. 

Again,  this  kind  of  matter  leads  boys  many  times  to  believe 
that  recklessness  and  daring  are  signs  of  smartness  and  great- 
ness, and  that  to  act  out  the  story  or  to  imitate  the  hero  makes 
them  heroes,  and  covers  them  with  the  same  halo  of  glory  which 
they  conceive  as  surrounding  their  favorite  in  the  story. 

In  March  of  last  year  a  boy  eleven  years  of  age  committed 
a  burglary  on  a  store  at  Red  Bank,  N.  J.  He  entered  the  store 


36  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

by  removing  a  pane  of  glass,  and  then,  reaching  through,  he 
unlocked  the  back  door.  He  imagined  himself  "  hail  fellow 
well  met"  as  soon  as  he  secured  the  money  in  the  cash-drawer 
and  went  out  and  spent  it  lavishly,  treating  people  he  met. 
He  filled  his  pockets  with  cigars  and  cigarettes,  which  he  also 
freely  dispensed.  When  arraigned  in  court  after  being  arrested, 
he  boldly  denied  his  guilt,  but  afterward  confessed.  To  show 
that  he  was  full  fledged,  let  me  add  his  remarks  to  his  poor, 
heart-broken  mother.  She  came  into  court.  When  she  asked 
him  a  question,  he  turned  upon  her,  and  in  loud,  defiant  tone 
said  to  her,  "  Shut  up  !  Who's  runnin'  this  thing,  me  or 
you  ?"  When  taken  to  jail  he  was  surrounded  with  boon  com- 
panions, with  whom  he  laughed  and  talked  in  the  most  non- 
chalant manner. 

In  May  last  a  lad  but  sixteen  years  of  age  was  arrested  for 
murder.  He  shot  his  step-mother,  and  then,  after  robbing  her 
in  the  most  heartless  manner,  left  her  to  die  while  he  went  out, 
bought  him  a  new  suit  of  clothes,  and  then  went  over  to  the 
Bowery  to  carouse  with  his  low  companions.  He  was  arrested 
in  a  shooting-gallery,  and  when  asked  why  he  shot  his  mother, 
replied,  ' '  I  shot  her  because  I  wanted  money. ' ' 

If  any  one  doubts  this  phase  of  crime  in  the  young,  let  him 
spend  a  week  of  observation  in  the  criminal  courts  in  New 
York  City. 

Another  feature  is  that  these  stories  suggest  a  ready  means  of 
revenge  when  the  mind  of  the  youth  becomes  excited  from 
some  crossing  of  his  views  or  some  fancied  insult. 

When  passion  is  aroused,  the  hand  instinctively  follows  the 
turn  of  thought  suggested  by  something  read  in  the  story.  The 
hero  there  always  had  knife,  club,  or  revolver  ready,  and  at 
once  placed  his  opponent  hors  de  combat. 

In  Missouri,  in  July  last,  a  boy  of  twelve  years  of  age  was  tried 
for  murder  in  the  first  degree  and  convicted.  His  victim  was 
his  own  father.  In  this  case  the  boy  imagined  that  he  had 
been  unjustly  punished. 

A  girl  eighteen  years  of  age  recently  shot  her  father  because 


HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND   STORY  PAPERS.         37 

he  would  not  consent  to  her  marrying  a  young  man  whom  the 
father  thought  unworthy  of  her. 

June  9th  John  Tibbetts,  aged  fourteen,  was  lynched  bj> 
armed  men  in  Perham,  Minn.  He  had  murdered  two  men. 
After  being  forcibly  taken  from  the  jail  and  led  to  the  place  of 
execution,  this  boy  addressed  the  mob,  arid  said  he  had  been 
incited  to  the  act  for  which  he  was  about  to  die  by  reading 
sensational  novels  and  an  irresistible  impulse  to  make  a  noise 
in  the  world  by  some  bloody  act,  if  necessary.  While  the 
preparations  were  going  on  about  him,  he  remarked,  without 
the  slightest  concern,  "  Hurry  up  ;  don't  keep  a  fellow  wait- 
ing." When  asked  at  last  if  he  had  any  further  remarks  to 
make,  he  said,  in  the  same  heartless  and  shameless  manner,  "  I 
guess  my  mother' 11  cry  when  she  hears  this." 

A  St.  Louis  lad  stabbed  a  playmate  who  teased  him  for 
ignorance  of  English. 

A  Texas  boy  shot  a  girl  last  summer  because  she  refused  to 
put  down  a  pail  she  was  carrying  when  he  commanded  her  to. 

In  Paris,  Ky. ,  October  24th,  1882,  Professor  Yerkes,  who  has 
charge  of  a  private  school  for  boys  and  young  men,  was  shot  by 
a  boy  fourteen  years  of  age,  named  Oldron.  The  day  previous 
the  teacher  had  corrected  him  for  tardiness,  and  told  him  he 
must  bring  an  excuse.  The  boy  brought  an  excuse,  and  as  he 
handed  it  to  the  professor  said,  "  Take  that  too  !"  and  shot 
him  with  a  thirty- two  calibre  pistol. 

Are  the  foregoing  isolated  cases,  or  are  there  statistics  to 
emphasize  and  sustain  them  ? 

In  General  Sessions  Court,  New  York  City,  in  May,  1882, 
the  Grand  Jury,  after  being  in  session  twenty-three  days,  and 
passing  upon  two  hundred  and  thirty-six  separate  complaints, 
made  a  final  presentment  to  the  court,  saying,  ' '  Not  far  from 
three  fourths  of  the  complaints  are  against  boys  ranging  from 
twelve  to  eighteen  years  of  age. ' ' 

On  March  ijth,  1882,  in  the  same  court,  Judge  Cowing, 
in  passing  sentence  upon  a  batch  of  seven  youthful  burglars, 
said  :  "  To  see  the  number  of  bright,  intelligent  young  men 


38  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

brought  up  in  this  court  every  day  is  a  painful  spectacle.  A 
great  majority  of  the  prisoners  arraigned  in  this  court  for 
burglary  and  other  serious  crimes,  punishable  by  sentences 
ranging  from  five  to  twenty-five  years  in  State  Prison,  are 
young  men  between  the  ages  of  seventeen  and  twenty-five  years. 
The  judges  of  this  court  are  doing  all  they  can,  by  the  imposi- 
tion of  heavy  sentences,  to  put  a  stop  to  the  commission  of 
crime  by  young  men,  but  it  seems  to  have  very  little  effect." 
He  then  sentenced  the  seven  convicts  as  follows  :  Three,  aged 
seventeen,  eighteen,  and  nineteen  respectively,  to  five  years 
each  in  State  Prison  ;  another  burglar,  twenty-two  years  of  age, 
to  seven  and  a  half  years  ;  another  one  of  the  same  age,  who 
committed  a  burglary  and  then  tried  to  kill  by  shooting  the 
officer  who  attempted  to  arrest  him,  was  sent  for  eight  years 
to  State  Prison  ;  two  others,  under  twenty-three  years  of  age, 
each  received  three  years  in  the  same  institution.  Why  is  it 
that  their  efforts  ' '  seem  to  have  very  little  effect' '  ? 

The  answer  must  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the  terrible 
increase  of  recruits  made  by  criminal  reading  is  far  outstrip- 
ping the  capacity  and  power  of  the  courts  to  correct.  The 
courts  cannot  keep  pace  with  the  increase. 

June  22d,  1882,  in  General  Sessions  Court  might  well  have 
been  called  ' '  Boys'  Day. ' '  On  that  date  no  less  than  seven- 
teen boys  were  arraigned  on  indictments  ordered  by  the  Grand 
Jury.  Fourteen  of  these  boys  pleaded  guilty  or  were  convicted, 
and  three  were  acquitted.  Twelve  were  indicted  for  burglary, 
and  five  for  larceny.  Three  were  thirteen  years  of  age,  three 
fourteen,  four  sixteen,  three  eighteen,  two  nineteen,  and  two 
twenty.  The  sentences  ranged  from  two  and  a  half  years  in 
the  Penitentiary  or  State  Prison,  to  commitment  to  the  House 
of  Refuge.  Take  another  day  as  reported  in  the  Herald  : 

"  Boy  Criminals. — It  was  a  noticeable  fact  in  the  Court  of 
General  Sessions  yesterday  that  among  a  large  batch  of  con- 
victed prisoners  the  majority  of  them  were  boys,  or  those  who 
had  not  attained  their  majority.  Isaac  Adams,  eighteen  years, 
convicted  of  larceny,  was  sent  to  State  Prison  for  one  year ; 


HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND   STORY  PAPERS.         39 

Harry  Jacobs,  fourteen  years,  felonious  assault  and  battery  (the 
jury  disagreed  and  he  was  discharged  by  the  court)  ;  Leonard 
Drolds,  nineteen  years,  larceny,  State  Prison  for  eighteen 
months  ;  Thomas  Maloney,  twenty  years,  petit  larceny  from 
the  person,  State  Prison  for  four  years.  William  Brown,  thir- 
teen years ;  Daniel  Donovan,  nine  years,  and  Otto  Baer, 
eleven  years,  were  jointly  tried  for  burglary  in  the  third  degree. 
They  were  found  guilty  and  sent  to  the  House  of  Refuge. 
Richard  Delaney,  aged  eighteen  years,  was  convicted  of  two 
charges — larceny  from  the  person  and  larceny.  He  was  sent 
to  the  Elmira  Reformatory.  John  McCabe,  aged  sixteen 
years ;  Thomas  McDonald,  eleven  years,  John  Hayes,  ten 
years,  and  Frank  Smith,  eighteen  years,  were  jointly  tried  on 
a  charge  of  burglary  in  the  third  degree.  Hayes  was  discharged, 
and  the  others  sent  to  the  House  of  Refuge.  Charles  Neiland, 
aged  eighteen  years,  pleaded  guilty  to  grand  larceny  ;  George 
Johnson,  aged  nineteen  years,  convicted  of  grand  larceny,  was 
sent  to  State  Prison  for  two  and  a  half  years  ;  Joseph  Henry, 
aged  nineteen  years,  found  guilty  of  burglary,  was  sentenced 
to  State  Prison  for  two  and  a  half  years." 

Meeting  one  of  the  officers  of  the  Prison  Association  recently, 
I  asked  him,  How  many  criminals  of  all  those  arraigned  in 
our  New  York  courts  are  under  twenty-one  years  of  age  ? 
He  replied  at  once,  without  hesitation,  ' '  Fifty  per  cent. ' '  How 
many,  I  asked,  are  sixteen  years  of  age  or  under  ?  His  reply 
came  as  unhesitatingly,  "  One  third." 

But  figures  do  not  lie.  I  have  in  my  office  a  scrap-book 
containing  the  newspaper  items  of  arrests  made.  This  is 
gathered  just  from  casual  reading,  and  from  the  papers  as  they 
come  to  hand  from  day  to  day.  This  record  shows  that  from 
February  ist  to  August  i5th,  1882,  there  were  four  hundred 
and  sixty-four  arrests  and  suicides  of  youth.  The  following 
tabular  statement  gives  their  crimes  and  ages  : 


TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 


H 

»          i-"    O  NO    OO^l    ON<-H  4>  U>    to    M    O  NO    OO^I   ON  Ages. 

oo        to  Oo    ON  to    HH    M   .      M.      N> Murder. 

Burglary. 

ON  >-i  4*.  <^i   M   .      r-i    >-,    M   .      '     •     •     .         Grand  Larceny. 

Larceny. 
Forgery. 
M.      KHM........H-I.  Arson. 

Manslaughter. 
Counterfeiters. 
Train  Wrecking. 

Mail  Robbery. 

Conspiracy  to 
Kill. 

ON       ..MiH...»owt-i Pickpockets. 

Attempted 
Suicides. 

*"  46  between  the  ages  of  6  and  16  years  of  age.  M  Uchfef! 

w4*U>toto.     to.     N» Suicides. 

Drunkards. 

Youths 
«!••»* -1'  Murdered. 

H-    O  NO    OO^-I    Os^-n  4^  OO    to    M    O  NO    OO^J    ON  1  Ages. 


HALF-DIME  NOVELS  AND   STORY  PAPERS.         41 

Compare  the  following  record,  secured  in  the  same  manner, 
for  the  first  half  of  the  year  1883  with  the  above,  and  note  the 
increase  in  the  crime  of  murder,  and  attempted  murder  or 
felonious  assault,  and  the  higher  crimes  of  felonies.  The  boy 
who  arms  himself  with  a  deadly  weapon  and  then  attempts  to 
take  the  life  of  another  is  none  the  less  a  murderer  at  heart 
because  his  efforts  miscarry.  Youths  were  arrested  from 
January  ist  to  August  ist,  1883,  as  follows  :  Twenty-four  for 
murder,  eighty-seven  for  attempted  murder,  eighty  for  burglary, 
ninety-two  for  larceny,  thirty-eight  for  highway  robbery,  fifty- 
seven  girls  for  prostitution,  four  youths  for  arson,  nine  for 
forgery,  eighteen  attempted  suicides,  nine  pickpockets,  four 
mail-robbers,  twelve  gamblers,  while  twenty-one  committed 
suicide. 

Reader,  has  the  language  been  too  strong  in  condemnation 
of  this  evil  ? 

What  is  the  remedy  for  children's  crimes  ? 

Virtue  and  honesty  must  be  instilled  by  the  parent ;  they 
must  be  a  part  of  the  child's  education.  Parental  authority 
must  be  exercised  wisely,  lovingly,  but  firmly.  The  child's 
mind  must  be  protected  from  the  virus  of  putrid  imaginations. 
The  passions  of  the  child  must  be  kept  subdued,  and  whole- 
some restraint  ever  maintained  over  youthful  desires  and  whims. 
Evil  communications  must  be  shunned. 

Parents  and  teachers,  you  may  look  upon  the  dumb  pages 
of  these  story-papers  and  think  there  is  no  harm  in  them. 
You  may  be  indifferent,  negligent,  and  careless.  But  I  warn 
you  against  these  leprous  influences.  They  speak  to  many 
youthful  minds  like  the  piercings  of  a  sword  —  a  poisoned 
sword  ! 

"  There  is  that  speaketh  like  the  piercings  of  a  sword." — 
Proverbs  12  :  18. 

This  evil  is  on  the  increase.  These  publications,  like  the 
fishes  of  the  sea,  spawn  millions  of  seed,  and  each  year  these 
seeds  germinate  and  spring  up  to  a  harvest  of  death.  There  is 
at  present  no  law  by  which  this  monstrous  evil  can  be  checked. 


42  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

The  remedy  lies  in  your  hands,  by  not  patronizing  any  person 
who  offers  these  death-traps  for  sale.  It  may  seem  a  slight 
thing  to  do,  but  it  is  better  than  sitting  indifferent.  It  is  manly 
and  speaks  of  moral  courage  for  the  right,  for  you  to  enter  a 
dignified  protest  against  the  dissemination  of  this  literary  poison. 
Encourage  the  sale  and  publication  of  good  wholesome  reading 
by  subscribing  for  some  good  paper  or  magazine  for  your  chil- 
dren. Let  your  newsdealer  feel  that,  just  in  proportion  as  he 
prunes  his  stock  of  that  which  is  vicious,  your  interest  in  his 
welfare  increases  and  your  patronage  becomes  more  constant. 
But,  above  all,  at  every  hazard,  rid  the  home  of  all  of  Satan's 
household  traps,  and  whenever  you  discover  one  burn  it  to 
ashes  ! 

There  is  another  evil  which  accompanies  the  sickening  details 
of  crimes  into  the  home.  The  same  sheets  are  the  signboards 
in  many  cases  to  dens  of  iniquity  and  marts  of  vice.  These 
are  considered  in  the  following  chapter. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

ADVERTISEMENT    TRAPS. 

NEWSPAPER  advertisements  are  a  factor  in  commercial  life. 
Trade  and  commerce  find  here  an  essential  means  of  com- 
munication. Immense  fortunes  are  made  through  these  power- 
ful and  widespreading  influences.  Millions  of  copies  of  daily 
and  weekly  papers  contain  tens  of  thousands  of  advertisements. 
Along  this  great  highway  of  communication  the  venders  of 
obscene  and  infidel  publications,  the  lottery  and  policy  gam- 
blers, the  quacks,  the  frauds,  the  poolsellers,  the  liquor-saloon 
keepers,  and  the  managers  of  low  theatres  display  their  finger- 
boards. Here  are  thousands  upon  thousands  of  traps  set  to 
ruin  youth  and  rob  the  unwary.  They  all  are  set  with  tempt- 
ing morsels.  The  baser  the  fraud  the  brighter  the  lure.  The 
bogus  banker  and  broker,  the  fraudulent  devices  to  sell  ' '  gold 
watches,"  "jewelry,"  "city  lots,"  and  "  patent  rights  ;"  the 
quack's  sugar-coated  pill  or  herb  tonic — "  a  sure  panacea  for 
all  the  ills  flesh  is  heir  to  ;"  the  gold  and  silver  mine  whose 
only  existence  is  on  paper,  and  whose  intrinsic  value  is  not  the 
worth  of  the  paper  upon  which  the  certificate  of  incorporation 
is  printed  ;  vile  books,  papers,  novels  ;  and  the  headquarters  of 
men  and  women  engaging  in  most  shameful  practices  —  all 
these  and  more  are  posted  here  with  flaming  colors. 

In  the  pursuance  of  his  duties  the  present  writer  broke  up 
one  concern  where  the  net  income  of  a  wretch  who  was  adver- 
tising in  some  three  hundred  papers  amounted  to  $22,833.33 
per  month.  *  He  was  a  bogus  banker  named  Buckwalter. 

*  The  history  of  this  and  of  many  other  of  the  leading  schemes  to 
defraud  has  been  thoroughly  shown  up  by  the  present  writer  in  a  book 
entitled  "Frauds  Exposed."  Copies  can  be  had  of^  the  author,  if 
desired. 


44  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

Again,  the  practice  of  newspapers  vigorously  advertising  by 
review  notices  every  work  of  a  questionable  character  is  most 
pernicious.  Works  that  curse  the  young  and  destroy  native 
innocence,  which  have  no  claim,  or  at  best  a  very  limited  one, 
to  literary  merit,  are  in  this  way  often  helped  to  a  large  circula- 
tion. There  are  many  writers  who  put  some  open  indecency 
into  their  works  so  as  to  attract  especial  attention  from  the  book 
reviewers.  To  make  a  book  so  gross  that  it  will  surely  be 
attacked  by  the  newspaper  which  reviews  it  seems  to  be  the 
height  of  ambition  with  many  writers  and  publishers.  These 
attacks  are  the  very  best  advertisement  for  their  nastiness. 
There  are  at  least  two  Philadelphia  publishers  who  are  to-day 
enjoying  large  sales  for  comparatively  worthless  books,  simply 
because  of  injudicious  newspaper  attacks  upon  certain  portions 
of  these  publications  which  are  lined  with  filth.  Why  notice 
such  books  at  all  ?  Why  extend  that  encouragement  to  the 
vile  and  debasing  ? 

Many  a  daily  or  even  religious  paper  helps  along,  just  as  sure- 
ly as  if  particeps  criminis,  the  wicked  schemes  it  lays  before 
the  public.  Evil  flows  from  their  act.  Many  are  led  to  ruin 
because  of  being  introduced  to  these  traps  by  journals  otherwise 
respectable.  Does  not  a  newspaper  do  more  for  crime  than  it 
does  for  virtue  when  it  gives  a  free  advertisement  in  a  prominent 
place  to  the  doings  or  the  literature  of  the  criminal  class  ? 

Consider  the  mighty  impetus  given  to  the  unlawful  devices 
named  at  the  beginning  of  this  chapter  by  the  prominence 
which  the  column  of  the  newspaper  gives.  In  the  advertising 
department  of  the  press  all  of  Satan's  traps  seem  to  concentrate. 
Along  this  path  may  be  found  the  most  enchanting  lures  ready 
to  deceive  and  destroy. 

Are  not  the  sensational  details  of  loathsome  crimes  published 
on  the  front  page  of  the  paper  the  very  loudest  advertisement 
of  those  crimes  ?  Why  give  crime  this  preference  ?  Why  glory 
in  them,  and  serve  them  up  as  a  sweet  morsel  ?  Done  without 
pay  to  make  the  paper  sell,  it  is  none  the  less  an  advertisement 
of  them  for  the  benefit  of  the  editor. 


ADVERTISEMENT   TRAPS.  45 

The  problems  of  "  voluntary  government"  and  "  liberty  of 
the  press' '  are  not  yet  solved,  and  will  not  be  until  future  years 
disclose  the  harvest  of  this  seed-sowing. 

It  may  seem  like  presumption  to  speak  thus  of  the  great 
newspaper  press  of  the  day,  but  it  is  applying  the  very  princi- 
ples by  which  many  of  these  papers  have  attempted  to  justify 
their  severe  criticisms  of  public  men,  viz. ,  that  whoever  occu- 
pies a  public  position  is  properly  a  subject  of  criticism.  Let 
thinking  men  reflect  on  this  evil,  and  let  some  effort  be  made 
to  check  this  torrent,  for  it  is  carrying  down  many  of  the  pure, 
simple-minded,  and  unwary.  Without  the  aid  and  co-operation 
of  respectable  papers,  very  many  schemes  which  to-day  curse 
the  land  could  not  sustain  an  existence.  These  schemes  are 
dependent  for  success  upon  the  wide  circulation  of  their  adver- 
tisements among  those  remote  from  their  locality.  At  home 
they  are  known,  and  known,  despised. 

With  newspapers  to  introduce  them  to  strangers,  to  cover 
their  crookedness  by  a  mantle  of  respectability,  and  to  give  a 
quasi-indorsement,  the  real  evils  in  many  of  these  schemes  do 
not  appear  until  the  victim  is  ensnared.  Why  should  a  news- 
paper man  bring  foul  matter  into  the  home  any  more  than  any 
other  business  man  ?  Is  there  any  reason  why  a  newspaper 
man,  who  prints  his  paper  for  a  livelihood,  should  be  permitted 
to  wait  upon  the  lowest  criminals  in  the  land,  gather  up  the 
foulness  from  their  lives,  and  then  thrust  it  into  our  homes  ? 
We  keep  scavengers  in  their  proper  place.  Editors  of  the  land, 
is  it  fair  ?  We  want  the  news,  and  we  want  your  papers,  but  we 
do  not  want  this  putrid  matter  left  at  our  doors.  It  breeds  a 
stench  worse  than  decaying  carrion,  a  contagion  more  destruc- 
tive than  yellow  fever. 

Many  a  child  reads  in  the  columns  of  the  daily  papers  the 
advance  chapter  of  some  trashy  story  soon  to  appear  in  some 
other  paper.  These  specimens  of  unwholesome  literature  are 
thus  introduced  to  hundreds  and  thousands  of  readers  that 
otherwise  might  never  have  seen  them,  and  who  in  turn  become 
purchasers  and  regular  readers  of  that  which  neither  elevates 


46  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

nor  educates  for  good,  but  the  opposite.  To  the  mercenary 
and  inconsiderate  spirit  which  inserts  these  advertisements  we 
are  indebted  for  much  of  the  evil  in  the  land,  and  to  them  must 
be  charged  much  of  the  increase  of  crime  among  the  young. 

What  kind  of  economy  is  it  to  allow  these  evils  to  continue 
and  increase  ? 

Theatres  and  Low  Plays. 

Evil  reading  bears  fruit  during  all  seasons.  Scarcely  is  the 
seed  sown  before  results  can  be  discerned.  The  devil  watches 
his  ventures,  and  is  promptly  on  hand  to  perfect  any  future 
scheme  with  improvements  on  the  part  Constantly  devising 
new  tricks,  he  does  not  lose  sight  of  those  gone  before.  He 
feeds  on  immortal  souls,  and  he  spares  no  pains  to  secure  them. 
He  knows  the  power  of  vile  thoughts,  and  through  eye  and  ear 
he  strikes  at  the  inner  life.  He  never  starts  an  enterprise  that 
tends  upward.  Downward,  hellward,  are  all  his  schemes. 
Low  theatres  and  bawdy  playhouses  are  portholes  through 
which  death-shots  are  hurled.  Here  youth  are  to  be  gathered 
to  complete  the  work  of  destruction.  Here  the  story  of  crime 
is  illustrated.  Scenes  of  bloodshed,  of  domestic  infidelity,  of 
atrocities  and  lewdness  that  surpass  the  worst  stories,  are 
enacted  by  painted  wretches,  whose  highest  boast  is  shame,  and 
who  seek  loud  applause  by  the  most  ribald  jokes.  Vulgarities 
that  should  cause  a  blush  to  mantle  even  a  harlot' s  cheek  are 
the  stock  in  trade,  the  means  by  which  the  masses  are  to  be 
entertained.  By  aid  of  the  newspaper  all  classes  are  made 
acquainted  with  the  location  of  these  recruiting  stations  of  hell. 
The  baits  to  allure  victims  are  on  the  bill-boards,  they  line  our 
fences,  and  cover  the  sides  of  vacant  buildings.  Even  the  rocks 
along  the  roadside  and  railway  are  made  to  bid  for  our  youth 
and  entice  them  into  these  crime-breeding  dens. 

"  Destruction  and  violence  are  in  their  path."  '  Their  feet 
are  swift  to  shed  blood. ' ' 

If  the  advertisements  of  these  vile  plays   bred  contagious 


ADVERTISEMENT    TRAPS.  47 

physical  disease  instead  of  moral  death,  they  would  not  stand 
for  a  day. 

They  are  the  very  sinks  of  hell.  Stop  a  moment  and  reflect. 
Close  this  book,  and  contemplate  the  number  of  youth  who  are 
to-day  perusing  crime-breeding  stories.  Let  me  help  you  a 
little  to  get  at  the  facts.  The  issues  of  three  publishers  in  New 
York  City  already  number  six  hundred  and  seventy  different 
trashy  story  books  and  papers.  These  are  advertised  in  news- 
papers scattered  through  the  great  arteries  of  trade — the  news 
companies — and  distributed  on  all  the  railroads  and  news- 
stands. It  is  said  by  those  who  have  looked  into  this  subject 
that  about  six  hundred  thousand  of  these  publications  are  sold 
each  week,  probably  not  an  overestimate.  Now  suppose  but 
two  boys  read  each  copy,  and  we  have  one  million  two  hun- 
dred thousand  youths  per  week  whose  minds  are  being  brought 
under  the  influence  of  these  subtle  poisons.  Now  turn  again 
to  the  low  theatres.  How  many  of  the  plays  to-day  are  fit  for 
a  pure  child  to  behold  ?  How  many  are  there  that  a  brother 
would  take  his  sister  to  see  ?  or  that  a  maiden  can  witness  with- 
out a  blush  ?  Startling  as  it  may  seem,  youth  in  our  large 
cities  and  towns  can  scarcely  go  from  home  to  school  without 
being  forced  to  look  upon  invitations  to  witness  representations 
of  crime,  lust,  and  bloodshed.  If  the  newspaper  stories  of 
crime,  real  or  unreal,  have  not  altogether  pauperized,  degraded, 
and  defiled  the  mind  of  the  youth,  here  are  scenes  beggaring 
description  which  complete  the  work  begun  by  bad  reading. 

Human  life  is  here  taught  to  be  unworthy  of  regard.  A  light 
estimate  is  placed  on  the  sanctity  of  home  and  the  marriage  tie. 
Profanity,  gambling,  a  spirit  of  unhealthy  speculation,  drunken- 
ness, and  immoralities  widespread,  innumerable,  and  alarming 
are  fostered.  No  wonder  that  defalcations,  embezzlements, 
breaches  of  trust,  break  out  like  blotches  on  the  face  of 
society.  This  is  not  an  east  wind,  but  the  breath  from  the 
shores  of  the  infernal  regions  !  It  is  a  plague,  worse  a  thou- 
sandfold than  locusts,  flies,  or  frogs.  A.  large  percentage  of 
the  fifty  millions  of  free  America  are  thus  receiving  an  educa- 


48  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

tion  the  tendency  of  which  is  to  sink  them  into  moral  bondage. 
They  are  preparing  not  for  freedom,  but  for  a  bondage  more 
cruel  and  relentless  than  that  of  ancient  heathendom.  Awhile 
ago  the  startling  news  came  over  the  wires  that  whole  towns  in 
the  West  had  been  wrecked  by  a  tornado.  In  the  morning  the 
sun  shone  upon  homes  where  love,  peace,  and  prosperity 
abode.  Before  night  these  homes — where  were  they  ?  The 
blast  had  shattered  them  ;  barns  and  fences  were  levelled  ; 
garden  spots,  where  flowers  bloomed  and  vegetation  was  just 
shooting  forth,  were  instantly  laid  waste.  After  the  hurricane 
had  spent  its  force  in  part,  we  read  that  twenty  children  were 
picked  up  among  the  willow  fences.  Their  nerves  were 
unstrung,  terror  filled  their  minds,  bruises  covered  their  bodies. 
The  whole  nation  was  moved  by  the  account  of  this  terrible 
storm.  But  worse  than  any  cyclone  or  tornado  is  this  silent 
influence,  this  breath  of  poison  which  is  breaking  over  our 
youth,  destroying  the  brightest  intellects,  crushing  and  wound- 
ing the  most  lovely  forms,  and  grinding  down  its  victims  to 
lowest  depths  of  shame  and  degradation. 

What  is  the  harvest  ? 

Recently  I  was  called  upon  by  a  mother  of  three  boys.  The 
eldest,  not  quite  fifteen  years  of  age,  had  been  systematically 
robbing  her  of  dresses,  jewelry,  books,  and  even  the  pillows 
from  her  bed,  and  he  had  pawned  them  to  get  money  to  go  to 
the  low  plays  which  have  been  mentioned.  This  mother  had 
to  send  her  first-born  to  the  House  of  Refuge,  where  he  now  is, 
to  protect  herself  and  friends  from  his  depredations,  so  crazed 
had  he  become,  so  fascinated  by  the  vile  performances  which 
he  attended.  Again,  the  same  mother  came  to  my  home  to 
have  her  next  boy,  twelve  years  of  age,  sent  to  the  same  institu- 
tion for  the  same  cause. 

Another,  who  had  a  widowed  mother,  dependent  in  part 
upon  his  wages  for  support  for  himself  and  three  younger  chil- 
dren, not  only  deprived  his  mother  of  his  salary  by  spending  it 
for  tickets  to  these  dirty  shows,  but  stole  seventy-five  dollars 
from  his  employer  that  he  might  visit  these  plays  in  company 


ADVERTISEMENT   TRAPS.  49 

with  waitresses  in  down-town  restaurants.  A  younger  brother 
of  this  same  boy  stole  twenty  dollars  out  of  the  seventy-five,  in 
order  that  he  too  might  visit  these  playhouses,  buy  these  "  five- 
cent''  papers,  and  carouse  with  lewd  companions.  He  was 
employed  at  three  dollars  a  week,  but  was  discharged  for  dis- 
honesty. For  two  weeks  he  deceived  his  mother  by  leaving  in 
the  morning  as  though  he  was  going  to  his  place  of  business, 
while  instead  he  spent  his  time  in  pool-rooms,  low  plays,  or 
with  dissolute  companions.  This  lad  was  but  a  little  more  than 
thirteen  years  of  age. 

Another  mother,  since  the  above,  came  to  my  home  and 
implored  me  to  help  save  her  daughter.  She  told  the  same 
story  of  waywardness  and  crime.  I  found  the  girl  a  bright- 
faced  little  miss  of  about  thirteen  summers,  but  she  had  become 
so  fascinated  with  the  scenes  of  vice  as  portrayed  on  the  stage 
that  she  even  stole  wearing  apparel  from  her  parents  in  order 
to  obtain  the  means  to  go  to  these  places.  When  threatened 
by  her  mother,  she  replied  that  if  she  was  only  a  little  older  she 
could  earn  all  the  money  she  wanted — intimating  a  life  after 
the  example  of  what  she  had  seen  in  these  theatres. 

From  personal  observation,  I  should  say  that  in  the  city  of 
Brooklyn  alone  not  less  than  one  thousand  boys  under  twenty 
years  of  age  attend  the  theatres  every  night.  In  one  of  these 
criminal  places,  where  seldom  if  ever  a  woman's  face  is  seen 
in  the  audience,  I  have  seen  hundreds  of  boys  of  a  single 
evening.  The  play  was  of  the  most  beastly  character.  These 
theatres  should  be  named  "  recruiting  stations  for  hell,"  as 
these  story  papers,  instead  of  being  called,  as  one  now  sup- 
pressed formerly  was,  Boy '  s  Own,  should  be  entitled  Devil 's 
Own. 

What  ?.re  these  recruiting  stations  ?  Well  may  you  ask 
They  are  often  the  very  centre  of  brothels  and  drinking-saloons. 
The  most  popular  plays  are  those  in  which  the  greatest  number 
of  brazen-faced,  abandoned  young  women  can  be  got  together 
to  make  a  public  exposure  of  their  shame.  The  fouler  the 
language,  the  more  scanty  the  apparel,  the  less  of  womanly 


5o  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

modesty,  the  more  shameless  the  actor,  the  more  lascivious  the 
conduct  on  the  stage,  the  more  crowded  is  the  house  and  the 
louder"  the  applause.  Our  youth  become  inflamed  with  lust. 
Breathing  this  atmosphere,  they  find  the  pure  atmosphere  of 
home  intolerable.  Often  they  go  directly  from  these  play- 
houses to  the  brothel,  or  if  they  return  home  it  is  to  dream 
over  the  obscene  and  cursed  spectacles  they  have  witnessed. 

If  one  were  writing  fiction,  these  would  be  unpleasant  features 
to  record.  But  more  terrible  still  is  the  thought  that  they  are /ads, 
and  that  here  are  death-traps,  morally  and  spiritually,  to  many 
a  youth.  These  places  are  finishing  shops  to  complete  the 
work  of  ruin.  If  anything  be  more  repulsive,  more  shocking 
to  decency,  more  mean  and  loathsome  than  the  plays  on  the 
stage,  it  is  the  well-dressed  men  (and  occasionally  women  !)  who 
flock  into  these  bawdy  playhouses,  contribute  to  their  sup- 
port, and  by  their  presence  sanction  these  debauching  exhibi- 
tions. One  may  make  whatever  excuse  he  will  in  defence  of 
his  presence,  but  "  birds  of  a  feather  flock  together  !"  It  is 
clear  proof  that  his  mind  is  impure,  his  imagination  unclean, 
and  that  he  is  rotten  within,  or  he  would  not  find  enjoyment 
in  these  ante-rooms  of  hell  ! 

Rum  Traps. 

A  tempting  bar  is  ever  near  at  hand.  Its  doors  are  open,  and 
the  smiling  vender  of  "  fire-water"  is  backed  by  an  imposing 
array  of  glasses  and  bottles.  This  smiling,  coaxing,  bowing, 
and  scraping  creature,  with  his  paste  diamonds  on  his  shirt-front 
and  mouth  pouring  out  a  string  of  oaths  or  lascivious  stories, 
is  ever  anxious  to  help  the  work  of  destruction.  The  cool 
manner  in  which  he  hands  up  the  decanter  to  the  youth  who 
seeks  a  drink,  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  the  encouraging  word 
he  gratuitously  supplies,  the  apparently  nonchalant  but  in- 
wardly eager  manner  in  which  he  takes  his  pay,  and  the  Satanic 
smile  ever  beaming  from  his  bloated  face,  all  remind  a  thought- 
ful person  that  the  devil  is  ingenious,  and  readily  imbues  with 
his  spirit  those  who  are  willing  to  sell  soul  and  body  for  a  few 


ADVERTISEMENT    TRAPS.  51 

cents.  We  have  had  eye-traps  till  we  are  surfeited,  now  we 
have  ear-traps  and  mouth-traps.  If  the  sight  and  hearing  can- 
not accomplish  the  work  of  ruin,  then  down  the  mouth  must 
be  poured  that  which  shall  burn  out  all  that's  left  of  integrity 
and  moral  purity. 

Intemperance  strikes  by  means  of  the  appetite,  destroying 
nerve  and  tissue  ;  natural  affection  and  filial  love  are  drowned  ; 
will-power  is  deadened  till  it  almost  fails  to  act ;  and  it  imparts 
a  weakness  that  renders  the  victim  more  open  to  all  other  vices. 
Lust  and  intemperance  are  twins — twin  devils.  They  are  Satan's 
favorite  agents  sent  to  carry  out  his  bidding.  The  needle  of 
the  compass  is  not  truer  to  the  pole  than  are  these  agents  to 
that  power  that  uses  them  to  destroy  human  happiness  and 
wreck  human  souls.  These  drinking  haunts  may  well  be 
likened  to  the  packing  department  of  a  large  manufactory, 
where  the  products  of  the  institution  are  boxed  up  and  sent  to 
the  home  office.  Here  the  soul's  ruin  receives  its  finishing 
touch  ;  the  work  is  completed  ;  they  are  to  be  sent  away  to  be 
disposed  of ;  they  are  sent  to  destruction. 

Statistics  of  bloodshed  and  carnage,  the  natural  fruitage  of 
this  planting,  are  constantly  spread  before  the  public,  and  yet 
men  are  indifferent.  Until  the  pestilence  enters  the  home  and 
strikes  down  some  beloved  form,  many  respectable  men  stand 
aloof  and  scoff  and  sneer  at  every  work  of  reform  in  this  line. 
But  once  let  their  own  circle  be  invaded,  then  they  are  up  in 
arms,  but  so  unpractical  in  their  methods  that  they  hinder  all 
true  reform. 

A  short  time  ago,  while  going  up  the  Hudson  on  one  of  the 
elegant  Albany  night  boats,  I  saw  four  young  lads  go  to  the 
bar  and  drink  all  around.  They  came  out  of  the  barroom 
and  stood  talking  a  little  while,  and  then  started  to  go  in  again. 
Seeing  that  one  of  them  was  already  somewhat  under  the  influ- 
ence of  liquor,  I  spoke  to  him,  saying,  ' '  For  your  own  sake, 
don' t  go  in  there  again  to-night. ' '  He  looked  surprised,  and 
said,  "  Oh,  all  fellows  drink  now  ;  we  always  have  it  on  the 
table  at  home. ' '  Here  is  a  sad  truth.  Parents,  you  may  keep 


52  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

your  child  from  going  to  excess  while  at  your  table  and  in  you* 
presence,  but  this  practice  of  supplying  your  children  with 
stimulants  in  the  home  forms  an  appetite  which  outside  they 
will  indulge  to  excess.  It  was  Johnson  who  said,  "  The 
diminutive  chains  of  habit  are  seldom  heavy  enough  to  be  felt 
until  they  are  too  strong  to  be  broken." 

Is  any  parent  so  heartless  and  cruel  that  he  would  take  either 
of  his  beloved  children  and  hold  him  as  a  victim  while  a 
stranger  should,  with  still  greater  barbarity,  inflict  torture  or 
cut  off  a  limb  ?  Surely  no.  Will  any  parent  dismember  his 
offspring,  or  even  inflict  needless  pain  ?  Why,  then,  will  they 
destroy  the  youthful  mind,  intellect,  will,  or  burn  up  the  nerves 
and  tissues  of  the  body  ?  Why  charge  the  system  with  the 
poison,  not  alone  of  alcohol,  but  of  the  vile  concoctions  made 
by  unscrupulous  men,  and  labelled  "wine,"  "whiskey," 
"  rum,"  "  gin,"  etc.  ?  Why  deliberately  place  Satan's  halter 
over  the  necks  of  your  children  ?  Why  rivet  the  shackles  of 
lust,  crime,  and  intemperance  on  their  tender  forms  ?  Why 
assist  the  devil  to  strengthen  and  multiply  his  chains  until  your 
child  cannot,  unaided,  break  them  asunder  ? 

Total  abstinence,  moral  purity,  and  sweet  thoughts,  like  the 
pure  atmosphere  that  surrounds  the  mountain-tops,  are  health- 
giving.  Despise  not  that  principle  of  conduct  which  brings 
life,  joy,  and  peace  to  our  youth. 

Does  it  pay  to  allow  dramshops  to  exist  ? 

Answer.  Would  it  pay  to  shut  your  children  up,  and  then 
open  a  cage  of  wild  beasts  in  the  room  with  them  ?  or  to  bring 
in  adders,  centipedes,  and  scorpions  for  them  to  play  with  ? 

The  glittering  allurements  of  the  barroom,  as  compared  to 
many  homes,  speak  loudly  to  youth  of  present  enjoyment, 
though  silent  as  to  the  future.  Brightly  illuminated  at  night, 
the  interior  finished  with  polished  woods,  the  bar  loaded  down 
with  crystal  decanters  of  different  hues,  the  walls  handsomely 
frescoed  and  hung  oftentimes  with  lascivious  works  of  art — these 
places  appeal  powerfully  to  the  appetites  and  passions  of  the 
immature  and  heedless. 


ADVERTISEMENT    TRAPS.  53 

Thronging  into  them  may  be  seen  through  the  wide-open 
doors  hundreds  of  bright,  healthy,  well-dressed  and  genteel- 
appearing  young  men.  These  are  greeted  by  the  persuasive 
creature  in  attendance  whose. business  it  is  in  the  most  enticing 
manner  to  secure  patronage  for  the  bar.  At  first  the  patron  is 
greeted  with  smiles.  So  long  as  good  clothes  and  money  hold 
out,  polite  attention  may  be  expected.  Non-attention  grows 
apace  as  the  victim's  purse  decreases.  As  the  lace  becomes 
bloated,  the  dress  soiled,  the  money  scarce,  the  rougher  grows 
the  usage,  until  at  last,  clothed  in  rags,  the  one  welcomed  so 
cordially  at  first  is,  by  the  hand  that  has  wrought  his  ruin,  led 
to  the  back  door,  and  with  oaths  from  the  lips  that  once  were 
so  honeyed,  he  is  kicked  out,  to  fall  at  last  into  an  unknown 
or  drunkard's  grave.  A  monument  of  skeletons  should  be 
erected  at  the  door  of  every  dramshop  as  the  unseen  reality. 
Though  invisible,  this  death  monument  is  silently  increasing 
in  size  each  year  in  the  history  of  every  one  of  these  plague- 
spots. 

Long  ago  this  business  became  so  odious  that  even  those  who 
unscrupulously  carried  it  on  for  the  sake  -of  making  money 
could  find  no  fair-seeming  ground  on  which  to  stand.  A 
happy  thought  was  supplied  by  the  evil  genius  who  presides 
over  these  hell -holes.  The  politician  was  appealed  to.  This 
business,  which  never  made  a  good  citizen  nor  a  pure  man,  but 
instead  has  ever  produced  thieves,  murderers,  and  criminals  of 
blackest  dye,  this  business,  forsooth,  is  to  be  clothed  with 
respectability  by  licensing  it  ! 

To  get  a  correct  idea  we  must  take  facts  as  they  exist.  The 
modern  politician  virtually  bargains  away  the  people's  rights. 
"  You  manufacture,"  he  says,  "  voters  for  me  and  my  party, 
and  I  will  secure  the  passage  of  an  act  that  shall  violate  public 
policy  and  outrage  every  sentiment  of  humanity,  make  it  legal 
for  you  to  transform  your  fellow-men  into  brutes  and  criminals 
at  a  handsome  profit  to  yourself ;  provided  always  you  respond 
when  called  upon  for  political  purposes,  and  that  you  support 
my  nomination." 


54  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

RumselLr.  "That  is  capital!  We  are  bound  to  make 
criminals,  but  there's  money  in  it,  if  you  only  legalize  it." 

Politician.  "  Of  course,  criminals  must  be  provided  for. 
Courts,  police  officers,  jails,  State  Prisons,  and  reformatories 
must  be  supported  by  the  public  ;  but  these  are  minor  consid- 
erations if  you  only  make  money  and  I  have  a  fat  office. 

Rumseller.  "  But  some  of  these  sensitive  and  high-strung 
nervous  temperaments  cannot  take  more  than  one  or  two  drinks 
without  becoming  noisy  and  excited,  and  getting  in'  a  row,  and 
that  will  bring  the  police  down  on  me  for  keeping  a  disorderly 
house. ' ' 

Politician.  "  Thump  such  fellows  on  the  head  and  silence 
them,  and  throw  them  into  the  street,  or  fee  the  police  to  be 
protected  from  arrest  or  prosecution." 

Rumseller.  "  Oh,  yes,  I  have  done  that  often,  but  sometimes 
we  kill  these  fellows  or  maim  them  badly,  and  then  we  get 
arrested  ;  the  police  have  to  do  it,  owing  to  a  peculiar  public 
sentiment  on  this  subject." 

Politician.  "  In  such  case  send  for  me,  and  I  will  go  your 
bail,  and  then  will  see  the  District  Attorney,  and  tell  him  not 
to  prosecute  you,  as  you  control  the  primaries  in  your  ward, 
and  you  and  your  neighbors  in  the  same  business  carry  your 
district  at  all  elections.  But  remember,  you  have  to  pay  out 
liberally  for  all  this." 

Rumseller.  "  Yes,  but  when  you  get  a  man  for  District 
Attorney  that  is  conscientious  and  honest,  you  will  have  no 
influence.  He  says  the  laws  shall  be  enforced  in  the  interest 
of  the  whole  people.  You  cannot  lead  him  by  the  nose  and 
make  him  do  your  bidding.  He  will  not  stultify  his  manhood 
nor  violate  his  oath  of  office  for  the  '  likes  of  yees. '  ' 

Politician.    "  Well,  if  he  tries  you,  we'll  see  the  judge." 

Rumseller.  "  Bah  !  suppose  it  be  a  judge  like  the  Re- 
corder, or  Judge  C. ,  of  New  York,  it  would  do  no  good,  as 
their  notions  of  justice  and  duty  are  entirely  against  such  prac- 
tices, and  no  man  need  expect  to  escape  the  penalty  of  his 
offences  before  such  judges." 


ADVERTISEMENT  TRAPS.  55 

Politician.  "  Well,  then  we  will  fix  the  jury.  We'll  see  the 
Commissioner  of  Jurors,  and  have  special  parties  drawn  on  the 
panel  that  is  to  try  your  case,  and  then  the  ones  drawn  will 
receive  their  orders  not  to  convict,  no  matter  what  the  evidence 
proves  against  you.  The  jury  will  not  agree.  But  you  must 
pay  well  for  this.  I  work  for  money,  I  do." 

Rumseller.  ' '  Bnt  between  you  and  the  police  and  the  ward 
politicians,  I  cannot  make  a  fortune  in  a  year  or  two,  if  I  have 
to  pay  out  so  much." 

Politician.  "  Well,  we'll  fix  that  next  election  ;  we  will  go  to 
merchants  and  others  for  funds  to  work  with,  and  we  will  pay 
you  a  few  thousand  dollars  to  treat  with,  to  buy  up  voters  with 
drinks  at  your  bar.  Then,  again,  there  is  likely  to  be  an 
uprising  of  respectable  citizens  to  oppose  our  rule,  and  we  shall 
have  to  locate  a  gang  of  repeaters,  and  you  will  have  to  take 
care  of  them  for  us. ' ' 

And  thus  public  interests  are  prostituted,  free  suffrage  de- 
stroyed, and  the  public  burdened  with  taxes  to  support  a  vast 
army  of  "  bummers"  and  criminals,  manufactured  in  these 
pest  holes  of  infamy  !  How  long  shall  these  things  continue  ? 


CHAPTER  V. 

GAMBLING  TRAPS. 

THEIR  name  is  Legion. 

There  is  planted  in  every  breast  a  desire  to  possess  riches. 
From  the  time  when  first  the  tiny  hand  of  the  infant  is 
stretched  out  toward  the  lighted  candle  until  old  age,  there  is 
constantly  active  an  impulse  to  get  possession  of  things  which 
charm  the  fancies  or  that  the  appetite  craves.  To  be  rich  and 
have  a  home,  luxuries,  and  position  in  society  is  the  thought 
likely  to  be  uppermost  in  the  human  heart  after  the  mind  is 
expanded  sufficiently  to  comprehend  the  condition  of  others  in 
these  respects.  To  have  money  to  spend  freely  without  a 
thought  of  future  want  seems  to  be  the  highest  ambition  of  the 
great  majority  in  the  community.  With  some  the  struggle  for 
money  is  a  straggle  for  life  ;  with  others  it  is  the  wild  deter- 
mination to  outstrip  some  competitor  ;  while  others  recklessly 
follow  the  butterfly  of  fashion,  and  run  to  extremes  to  surround 
themselves  with  all  the  attractions  of  their  wealthier  neighbors. 
How  many,  again,  are  driven  mad  in  their  desire  to  possess 
money  in  order  to  respond  to  the  fierce,  loud  demands  of 
unhallowed  appetites  and  passions  ! 

It  requires  but  a  slight  bend  in  this  current  to  turn  the  youth- 
ful mind  away  from  honest  labor  and  healthful  occupation. 
The  promise  of  getting  something  for  nothing,  of  making  a 
fortune  without  the  slow  plodding  of  daily  toil,  is  one  of  Satan's 
most  fascinating  snares.  He  sets  his  signboards  along  the 
avenues  of  honest  trade  and  commerce,  and  seeks  to  turn  aside 
all  classes  by  the  glittering  allurements  of  easy  fortunes. 

In  addition  to  demands  made  by  unholy  and  vicious  living 
from  secret  forces  preying  upon  the  human  system,  there  is 


GAMBLING   TRAPS.  57 

added  the  charm  that  invests  money.  To  the  one  thus  capti- 
vated by  Fortune's  smile  the  future  is  filled  with  visions  of 
glory.  He  fancifully  builds  a  castle,  and  furnishes  it  in  latest 
and  most  elegant  fashion.  He  will  endow  some  charity  which 
shall  stand  before  the  public  as  monument  of  his  importance, 
and  with  a  wild  recklessness  he  will  lavish  his  money  until  he 
is  the  envied  of  all  the  envious.  So  they  dream. 

Many  a  youth  of  inexperience  imagines  that  because  he  has 
money  to  clothe  himself  in  fine  apparel  and  deck  himself  with 
glittering  ornament,  he  thus  puts  himself  upon  a  level  with 
those  who,  by  years  of  industry  and  application,  have  acquired 
wealth,  culture,  and  position.  The  passion  for  money  and 
prominence  has  rendered  such  a  one  the  caricature  of  a  man  ; 
has  blunted  his  finer  sensibilities,  and  degraded  the  higher 
qualities  of  his  nature. 

The  glitter  of  a  fortune  is  the  bait  to  all  gambling  schemes. 
Intemperance  and  lust  have  been  called  twin-devils.  We  must 
add  another  to  their  foul  company.  For  the  passion  for  gam- 
bling is  as  remorseless  as  either  of  the  others.  The  laboring 
man  will  spend  the  week's  wages  in  gambling,  leaving  his 
wife  and  children  to  starve.  The  last  dollar  will  go  for  policy 
or  lottery,  even  when  the  spender  knows  that  the  larder  is 
empty  at  home.  The  poor  woman  will  pawn  her  clothing  in 
the  vain  hope  of  winning  a  prize.  The  young  man  will  rob 
even  his  own  parents,  to  say  nothing  of  trusting  employer,  in 
order  to  follow  this  goddess. 

Gambling  lays  itself  a  gnawing  worm  at  the  root  of  honest 
industry. 

Swindling,  forgery,  theft — every  crime  that  extreme  necessity 
and  outcast  desperation  can  suggest  to  man  lost  to  all  the  moral 
ties — follow  in  its  train. 

Says  that  eminent  jurist  Judge  Catron,  formerly  of  the  United 
States  Supreme  Court,  in  a  decision  in  the  case  of  the  State  of 
Tennessee  v.  Smith  and  Lane  : 

"  Gaming  is  a  general  evil,  leads  to  vicious  inclinations, 
destruction  of  morals,  abandonment  of  industry  and  honest 


58  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

employment,  a  loss  of  self-control  and  respect  Frauds,  for- 
geries, theft  make  up  the  black  catalogue  of  crime,  the  closing 
scene  of  which  generally  ends  in  highway  robbery  or  murder." 

In  very  many  cases  this  passion  lies  dormant.  The  first  trap 
of  this  kind  Satan  is  permitted  often  to  set  in  church  and 
charity  fairs.  Here  he  sets  in  motion  for  the  first  time  that 
which,  when  thoroughly  aroused,  sweeps,  with  the  fury  of  a 
tornado,  morals,  motives  to  honest  and  industrious  pursuits, 
lofty  ambitions,  and  noble  living  into  the  vortex  of  vice.  Here, 
in  the  lecture-room  of  the  church,  and  under  the  banner  of 
' '  Charity, ' '  the  evil  one,  by  the  hand  of  thoughtless  and  well- 
meaning  people,  unhinges  the  principles  of  religion  and  com- 
mon honesty.  Here  is  often  sown  the  seed  from  which  in 
after  years  comes  desolation,  which  renders  the  mind  ungovern- 
able and  destroys  it  for  useful  purposes.  Trembling  anxiety 
for  the  success  of  these  ventures  disturbs  the  disposition  to 
acquire  a  living  by  the  established  methods,  while  each  dis- 
appointment renders  the  victim  moie  desperate  and  befogs 
reason. 

Cool  judgment  and  forethought  are  displaced  by  the  feverish 
excitement  of  getting  something  for  comparatively  nothing. 

Like  intemperance  and  lust,  this  passion  once  aroused  leads 
to  the  abandonment  of  honest  calling  and  renders  a  man  a 
vagrant  in  mind  and  conduct. 

To  those  who  will  be  rich,  the  gambling  scheme  offers  many 
inducements. 

At  the  head  of  these  inducements,  as  most  pernicious  and 
insidious,  I  place  the  one  that  to-day  has  the  strongest  hold 
and  receives  the  greatest  support  from  the  masses. 

Lotteries. 

Lotteries  are  the  most  extensive  and  far-reaching  of  all  gam- 
bling schemes.  They  prey  upon  the  unwary.  They  break  up 
steady  habits,  waste  property,  and  displace  industry.  They 
extend,  by  assistance  of  so-called  respectable  newspapers,  into 
all  sections  of  the  country. 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  59 

There  are  said  to  be  but  two  States  in  the  Union  where  lot- 
teries are  legal,  and  yet  by  the  co-operation  of  many  news- 
papers this  unlawful  and  demoralizing  practice  is  carried 
wherever  the  newspaper  goes.  Again,  by  the  system  of  sending 
circulars  by  mail,  already  referred  to,  they  are  enabled  to  hunt 
out  and  prey  upon  the  credulous  in  every  community.  By 
thus  appropriating  these  two  mighty  agencies  of  communica- 
tion, this  evil  to-day  is  one  of  the  most  prolific  in  injury  to  and 
destructive  of  good  morals. 

All  classes  are  drawn  into  its  meshes.  The  young  and  old, 
white  and  black,  learned  and  ignorant,  male  and  female, 
master  and  mistress,  the  servant  in  the  kitchen  and  the  hostler 
in  the  stable,  the  boarding-school  miss  and  the  blackleg,  school- 
boy and  thief,  apprentice-boy  and  renegade,  clerk  and  burglar — 
all  may  here  vie  one  with  another  in  gambling  in  the  same 
pool,  and  be  deluded  and  robbed  by  the  same  sharper. 

These  offices,  open  to  all  classes,  offer  as  baits  to  induce  the 
purchase  of  tickets  at  from  one  dollar  to  ten  dollars  each,  one 
hundred  thousand  dollars  in  prizes  at  a  times.  These  golden 
prizes,  drawing  in  the  young,  ignorant,  credulous,  unwary, 
struggling  poor,  and  anxious  ones,  associate  them  with  the 
idle,  vicious,  and  unprincipled. 

These  tickets  are  placed  on  sale  in  some  of  the  lowest  dens 
in  our  large  cities.  In  these  places  I  have  repeatedly  seen 
women,  young  girls,  and  children  standing,  with  trembling 
forms,  waiting  their  turns,  while  the  atmosphere  about  them 
was  poisoned  with  the  fumes  of  whiskey  and  tobacco,  and 
filled  with  foulest  language,  flowing  from  the  lips  of  the  veriest 
scoundrels  lounging  in  these  places.  Into  such  influences, 
after  once  the  torch  of  gambling  is  lighted  in  the  human  breast, 
the  bright  boy  or  clerk  is  easily  led.  The  excitement  of  win- 
ning a  prize  soon  overcomes  the  fear  which  is  naturally 
awakened  on  a  first  visit  to  these  places. 

Here  it  is  again  demonstrated  that  Satan  takes  advantage 
of  human  weaknesses.  Mental  and  moral  demoralization  follow 
the  victim,  and  in  proportion  to  the  amount  invested.  The  pur- 


60  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

chaser  of  lottery  tickets,  so  soon  as  he  has  secured  one,  begins 
to  speculate  as  to  the  probabilities  of  his  holding  the  lucky 
number.  He  then  begins  to  reason  out  the  possibilities  of  his 
drawing  a  big  prize.  He  bases  his  calculations  upon  his  hopes 
rather  than  upon  his  chances.  Reason  is  allowed  no  place  in 
his  judgment.  He  makes  no  allowances  lor  the  manipulations 
of  the  managers,  nor  the  dishonest  practices  which  almost 
invariably  follow  in  the  wake  of  these  schemes.  His  infatuation 
blinds  his  eyes  to  the  wisdom  of  his  ventures,  and  he  seeks  to 
multiply  his  chances  by  securing  a  larger  number  of  tickets  ;  and 
when  his  money  is  gone  he  helps  himself  from  his  friend's 
purse  or  employer's  money-till,  lulling  conscience  to  sleep 
with  the  false  and  subtle  argument  that  "  he  will  just  borrow 
this  sum,  and  will  return  it  as  soon  as  he  makes  a  hit.  He's 
sure  to  get  some  prize,  with  so  many  tickets  in  one  drawing." 
Silly  fool  !  The  tempter  has  won  an  easy  prey.  His  golden 
promise  has  completely  blinded  moral  perception,  and  without 
calculating  fraud  on  the  part  of  the  managers  you  have  sold 
your  soul  for  far  less  than  a  mess  of  pottage. 

The  prizes  offered  to  be  distributed  in  a  lottery  by  those  con- 
ducting them  are  the  outcome  of  selfishness.  They  are  the 
bulwarks  of  fraud.  Behind  these  are  "  ways  that  are  dark  and 
tricks  that  are  vain."  These  prizes  are  sums  of  money  named 
and  promised  to  be  distributed  by  persons,  who,  too  lazy  to 
work,  too  cowardly  to  be  openly  vicious,  adopt  these  schemes 
to  deceive  and  rob  the  credulous.  The  drawings  are  always 
made  by  some  interested  party,  if  made  at  all.  A  list  is  kept  of 
all  tickets  sold,  so  that  it  is  a  very  easy  matter  for  the  seller  to 
know  just  what  numbers  remain  on  hand,  and  from  these 
numbers  a  printed  list  of  drawings  can  easily  be  made  up  with- 
out any  drawing. 

Then,  again,  take  the  so -called  Kentucky  lotteries.  *  They  are 
unlawful  and  fraudulent  even  in  the  State  which  they  purport 
to  emanate  from.  These  have  no  public  drawing.  Is  any 

*A  complete  history  of  these  fraudulent  lotteries  is  given  in 
"  Frauds  Exposed." 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  61 

scheme  good  for  investment  where  it  is  unlawful  and  fraudulent 
at  the  start  ?  Add,  then,  the  secret  manipulations  of  unscrupu- 
lous managers  to  such  a  scheme,  and  where  is  there  any  possi- 
ble chance  for  the  deluded  ticket-buyer  to  win  a  prize  ? 

This  prize  money  is  an  amount  set  apart,  not  for  honest  dis- 
tribution, for  the  sake  of  benefiting  the  recipients,  but  after 
usually  accomplishing  its  purpose  in  effecting  the  sale  of 
numerous  tickets,  it  is  designed  to  afford  the  manipulators  an 
opportunity  to  see  how  small  a  portion  of  it  it  is  possible  to  dis- 
tribute to  the  general  public,  and  yet  keep  up  a  good  showing. 

An  artist  has  well  represented  the  subject,  as  follows  :  The 
motley  throng  outside  the  high  inclosure  represents  the  ticket- 
buyers.  The  poles  and  hooks  represent  the  embezzlements, 
defalcations,  thefts,  and  robberies  which  the  many  are  led  into 
to  secure  money  to  buy  tickets  with.  Around  the  festive  board 
in  the  centre  sit  the  managers,  with  the  officials  whom  they 
have  corrupted,  and  who  share  with  them  their  ill-gotten  gains. 
At  the  feet  of  the  principal  manager  is  placed  the  large  prizes. 
All  prizes,  it  will  be  observed,  fall  beyond  the  reach  of  the 
ticket- holder  ;  the  managers  control  everything,  and  none  can 
pass  out  except  they  will  it ;  the  ticket-buyer  pulls  the  prizes 
off  the  tree  while  the  police  officials  virtually  stand  by  contenanc- 
ing  and  protecting  this  public  nuisance.  One  manager  sug- 
gests the  propriety  of  advertising  the  next  scheme  by  throwing 
over  or  paying  out  a  few  small  prizes.  Suppose  there  is  a  pub- 
lic drawing,  where  numbers  are  drawn  from  a  wheel.  In  some 
lotteries  there  is  no  limit  to  the  number  of  tickets  issued.  In 
others  the  number  is  100,000  each  month.  Who  of  the  ticket- 
buyers  knows  that  all  the  numbers  are  in  the  wheel  ?  Who 
knows  whether  any  other  than  those  of  the  unsold  tickets  are  in 
there  ? 

Again,  the  capital  prizes  are  drawn  first.  Who  knows  whether 
the  numbers  announced,  even  in  a  public  drawing  by  so-called 
respectable  godfathers  to  these  contemptible  robbing  schemes, 
are  those  actually  drawn  and  handed  to  them  ?  The  breathless 
eagerness  with  which  each  ticket-holder  listens  to  see  if  his 


62  TJiAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

number  shall  be  first  announced  makes  easy  the  matter  of 
cheating  before  his  very  eyes. 

Do  you  suppose  that  one  of  these  unprincipled  scamps  will 
permit  $50,000  go  out  of  his  hands  when  once  it  is  safely  in 
it  ?  Such  simplicity  is  on  a  par  with  the  investment  made 
when  the  ticket  is  bought. 

The  highest  court  of  the  State  of  Kentucky,  in  deciding  a 
matter  of  which  Simmons  and  Dickinson  were  appellees,  says, 
in  speaking  of  these  so-called  Kentucky  lotteries,  "  which 
tends  to  foster  and  encourage  the  spirit  of  gaming,  is  productive 
of  injury  to  the  people  of  the  commonwealth,  and  is  against 
common  right." 

Says  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  the  case  of 
John  B.  Stone  el  al.,  plaintiffs  in  error,  v.  The  State  of  Mis- 
sissippi : 

' '  That  lotteries  are  demoralizing  in  their  effects,  no  matter 
how  carefully  regulated,  cannot,  in  the  opinion  of  this  court, 

be  doubted They  are  a  species  of  gambling,  and 

wrong  in  their  influences.  They  disturb  the  checks  and 
balances  of  a  well-ordered  community.  Society  built  on  such 
a  foundation  would  almost  of  necessity  bring  forth  a  population 
of  speculators  and  gamblers,  living  on  the  expectation  of  what 
chance  might  award  them  from  the  accumulations  of  others." 

Let  the  reader  who  is  interested  turn  to  the  appendix,  to  see 
a  report  made  to  Congress  by  the  Postmaster-General  in  1880, 
concerning  some  ' '  queer  lottery  manoeuvres. ' ' 

I  present  now  the  decision  of  that  eminent  jurist,  Judge  Catron, 
of  Tennessee,  of  whom  it  is  said  :  ' '  His  opinions  delivered  both 
from  the  Supreme  Court  of  his  State,  and  from  that  of  the 
nation,  will  ever  be  regarded  as  of  highest  authority."  In  the 
case  already  noted,  he  further  said  : 

' '  Lotteries  are  gambling,  and  odious  gambling.  A  lottery  is 
gaming,  thus  is  against  the  policy  of  society,  and  there  are  few 
civilized  nations  that  have  not  adopted  means  to  restrain  or 
entirely  prohibit  it,  because  it  is  seeking  property  for  which  no 
equivalent  is  to  be  paid,  and  because  it  leads  directly  to  losses 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  63 

and  poverty,  and  by  inciting  bad  passions  is  the  fruitful  origin 
of  vice  and  crime. 

"  It  is  the  worst  species  of  gaming,  because  it  brings  adroit- 
ness, cunning,  experience,  and  skill  to  contend  against  igno- 
rance, folly,  distress,  and  desperation.  It  can  be  carried  on  to 
an  indefinite  extent  without  exposure,  and  by  a  mode  of  selling 
the  chances  by  combination  numbers,  an  invention  of  the 
modern  school  of  gambling,  the  fate  of  thousands  and  hundreds 
of  thousands  may  be  determined  by  a  single  turn  of  the  wheel. 
Lotteries,  like  other  games  of  chance,  are  seductive  and  infatu 
ating.  Every  new  loss  is  an  inducement  to  a  new  adventure  ; 
and  filled  with  vain  hope  of  recovering  what  is  lost,  the  un- 
thinking victim  is  led  on  from  step  to  step,  till  he  finds  it 
impossible  to  regain  his  ground,  and  he  gradually  sinks  into  a 
miserable  outcast,  or  by  a  bold  and  still  more  guilty  effort, 
plunges  at  once  into  that  gulf  where  he  hopes  protection  from 
the  stings  of  conscience,  a  refuge  from  the  reproaches  of  the 
world,  and  oblivion  from  existence. 

"  If  we  consider  the  dealing  in  lottery  tickets  as  a  calling  or 
employment,  so  far  as  the  venders  are  concerned  it  deserves  to  be 
treated  in  legislation  as  those  acts  are  which  are  done  to  get 
money  by  making  others  suffer,  to  live  upon  society  by  making 
a  portion  of  its  members  dishonest,  idle,  poor,  vicious,  and 
criminal. 

' '  In  its  character  and  consequences,  the  dealing  in  lottery  tickets  is 
the  worst  species  of  gaming,  and  deserves  a  severer  punishment 
than  any  fine  would  amount  to.  If  it  involves  the  moral  and 
legal  offences  of  fraud  and  cheating,  does  it  not  deserve  an  in- 
famous  punishment,  if  any  fraudulent  acquisition  of  mere  prop- 
erty shall  be  punished  with  infamy  ? 

"  Considered  in  its  complicated  wrongs  to  society,  it  certainly 
deserves  the  severest  punishment,  because  it  makes  infamous  criminals 
out  of  innocent  persons,  and  visits  severe  afflictions  on  parents, 
employers,  family  connections  and  others,  who  in  this  respect  have 
done  no  wrong  themselves  ;  and  thus  the  innocent  are  made  to 
suffer  for  the  guilty,  an  anomaly  which  is  revolting  to  all  our 


64  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

notions  of  justice,  and  to  all  the  moral  and  natural  sympathies 
of  mankind." 

What  is  the  fruit  of  this  kind  of  seed-sowing  in  the  midst  of 
us? 

Dishonest  employes  in  numerous  mercantile  houses,  default- 
ers in  our  banks,  embezzlers  and  thieves  in  our  public  offices  of 
trust.  Wealthy  corporations  are  honeycombed  by  those  who, 
while  serving  them,  and  occupying  lofty  positions  in  society, 
have  secretly  carried  the  surplus  earnings  and  often  the  paid-in 
capital  to  enrich  these  sharpers. 

One  trusted  clerk  on  Broadway,  while  receiving  a  remarkably 
large  salary  for  rilling  a  most  responsible  position,  managed  in 
a  few  weeks'  time  to  secure  over  $10,000  from  his  employers 
to  gamble  with  in  this  way. 

Another  bank  cashier  stole  over  $35,000,  according  to  his 
own  confession,  spending  from  $400  to  $500  per  day  in  these 
schemes. 

A  bright  young  man  was  sentenced  by  his  Honor  Recorder 
Smythe,  of  New  York,  to  two  and  a  half  years'  imprisonment 
on  his  plea  of  "  guilty"  to  stealing  $175  worth  of  jewelry  from 
a  friend.  His  excuse  was  that  he  had  imbibed  a  taste  for 
gambling. 

Last  year  a  young  man,  conscience-stricken,  delivered  him- 
self to  the  police  in  Chicago,  confessing  that  he  had  stolen 
$3000  from  his  employer  with  which  to  gamble. 

In  January  last,  in  Orange,  N.  J. ,  a  young  man  committed 
suicide.  His  parting  message  was  "  An  unconquerable  habit 
of  gambling  has  rendered  life  intolerable." 

The  same  month  in  Newark  a  young  man  pleaded  ' '  guilty' ' 
to  murder  in  the  second  degree  for  having  killed  a  friend  at  a 
gaming-table. 

A  young  man  was  brought  to  my  office,  who,  before  he  left, 
confessed  to  stealing  over  $1300  in  small  sums  from  his 
employer,  for  the  purpose  of  gambling  in  lottery  and  policy. 
He  had  spent  in  all  $1800,  and  had  not  a  penny  to  show 
for  it. 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  65 

My  long  experience  has  convinced  me  that  no  language  is 
strong  enough  to  condemn  these  merciless  devices  to  rob  the 
unwary.  It  is  too  late  in  the  history  of  the  world  to  regard 
lotteries  as  respectable  or  honest.  Their  record  and  history  are 
fraud  on  the  part  of  the  promoters,  and  ruin  and  desperation 
on  the  part  of  the  victim.  Thousands  upon  thousands  have 
gone  down  into  this  whirlpool  of  villainies,  sacrificing  in  its 
vortex  character,  honor,  and  position  in  society.  Heavy  bur- 
dens have  been  laid  on  the  consciences  of  men  seduced  to  dis- 
honesty, while  heavier  burdens  have  fallen  upon  innocent 
women  and  children,  whose  support  has  been  swallowed  up  by 
this  heartless  monster. 

To  attempt  to  shield  the  lottery  system  from  public  execra- 
tion is  a  folly  second  only  to  that  of  the  credulous  simpleton 
who  invests  his  money  with  calculations  of  a  sure  return. 

We  read  that  one  of  old  built  a  monument  to  his  military 
achievements  with  the  skulls  of  his  victims.  When  such  bar- 
barity secures  a  popular  applause,  lottery  managers  may  then 
hope  to  be  considered  as  engaged  in  a  respectable  business, 
and  not  until  then. 

Notwithstanding  the  State  of  Louisiana  has  sold  itself  to  this 
bold  and  heartless  privateer,  yet  there  are  men  even  there  with 
moral  courage  enough  to  speak  against  it. 

Congressman  E.  W.  Robertson,  at  Baton  Rouge,  August 
1 6th,  1882,  said  :  "  Poor  as  I  am,  the  lottery  company  cannot 
buy  me,  and  as  this  question  has  entered  into  our  politics,  I 
propose  to  make  it  an  issue  in  every  canvass  from  governor 
down  to  constable.  It  has  been  charged  that  this  lottery  com- 
pany controls  the  Legislature,  and  even  members  of  Congress. 
Is  it  not,  then,  our  duty  to  fight  this  despotism  that  is  worse 
than  hell  itself?" 

The  following,  from  the  Washington  despatch  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Commercial,  will  be  read  with  interest  in  this  connection  : 

"  Opposition  to  the  Louisiana  Lottery. — A  majority  of  the 
Louisiana  delegation  in  Congress  are  enlisted  in  an  effort  to 
break  up  the  Louisiana  lottery.  Mr.  Robertson  has  intro- 


66  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

duced  a  bill  whose  effect,  if  passed,  will  be  to  exclude  all  mail 
matter  designed  for  the  lottery  company  from  the  mails.  He 
is  backed  up  by  all  but  two  of  the  delegation.  These  gentle- 
men look  at  it  from  a  practical  point  of  view.  They  know  it 
to  be  an  immoral  concern.  They  know  it  as  well  to  be  the 
hydra  of  Louisiana  politics.  They  are  fighting  it  more  because 
they  know  it  to  be  the  power  behind  the  Louisiana  machine, 
mightier  than  the  machine  itself,  than  because  they  appreciate 
its  demoralizing  effect  upon  the  country,  and  the  swindling  of 
which  it  is  hourly  guilty.  Its  enormous  revenues  (it  took  a 
quarter  of  a  million  from  the  180,000  inhabitants  of  Washing- 
ton last  year)  give  it  enormous  power.  '  It  could  well  afford,' 
said  a  prominent  Louisiana  man  to-day,  '  to  give  up  when  it 
got  its  constitutional  guarantee  some  time  since  to  abandon  the 
monopoly  feature  of  its  business,  since  it  controls  every  Legis- 
lature that  meets  at  Baton  Rouge,  and  can  choke  every  rival 
enterprise  at  its  birth.  Why,  it  laid  aside  $200,000  of  its  sur- 
plus last  year,  after  some  of  its  directors  had  received  $75,000 
dividends,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  the  incorporation  of 
two  prospective  competitors,  whose  heads  were  just  appearing 
above  the  horizon.  Their  attorneys  in  both  houses  of  the 
Legislature,  each  one  of  whom  received  $6000  per  annum  from 
the  lottery  company,  put  the  money  where  it  would  do  the 
most  good,  and  the  rival  enterprises  are  dead. '  ' 

The  above  is  the  legitimate  offspring  of  ' '  respectable' '  lottery 
management. 

December  8th  and  pth  last,  I  raided  the  main  office  of  this 
public  plunderer,  at  212  Broadway,  New  York.  I  seized  books 
and  records,  now  in  my  possession,  containing  the  names  of  the 
ticket -buyers,  the  amount  of  money  sent,  and  number  of  tickets 
returned  to  the  purchasers  of  tickets.  The  average  receipts  for 
twenty  days  prior  to  the  raid  were  $5 1 76  per  day,  by  actual 
count,  while  the  average  daily  orders  and  letters  received 
amounted  to  about  1750.  I  saw  at  one  time  delivered  to  one 
clerk  from  this  office  at  the  New  York  Post-Office,  over  550 
registered  letters. 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  67 

The  annual  income  of  this  company  alone  is  $4,000,000, 
according  to  their  own  showing. 

Nine  lotteries,  which  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Suppres- 
sion of  Vice  have  had  the  honor  of  driving  out  of  New  York 
City,  had  a  reputed  annual  income  of  ten  million  dollars. 

Palatial  residences,  elegant  equipages,  flashing  diamonds,  and 
a  long  retinue  of  cringing  followers  are  the  monuments  which 
mark  the  greed  of  the  lottery  managers  on  the  one  side.  On 
the  other  are  privation,  squalor,  and  want  among  the  poor, 
demoralization  among  the  young,  and  corruption  in  legislative 
halls  and  courts  of  justice,  while  officials  on  every  side  are 
tainted  with  the  odious  smell  of  bribery. 

I  cannot  better  illustrate  how  the  laws  have  not  been  enforced 
than  by  giving  a  little  of  the  history  of  the  headquarters  of  this 
company  while  in  New  York  City.  It  first  appeared  at  No.  319 
Broadway,  in  1877.  The  advertisements  then,  in  a  large  num- 
ber of  newspapers,  announced  the  prizes,  date  of  drawing,  and 
that  tickets  could  be  had  at  $2  each,  of  H.  L.  Plum,  No. 
319  Broadway. 

After  a  little  this  place  became  thronged,  until  the  ticket- 
buyers  had  to  be  placed  in  a  line  and  wait  their  turns.  For 
months  it  was  not  disturbed,  and  down  to  December  9th,  1882, 
conducted  its  business  with  open  doors.  On  one  occasion  the 
police  made  a  raid.  The  then  incumbent  of  the  District 
Attorney's  office  failed  to  properly  prosecute.  The  money 
seized  by  the  police  was  returned,  and  the  office  reopened  for 
business.  And  it  looks,  viewed  now  in  the  light  of  history,  as 
though  this  raid  was  designed  to  show  this  company  what  the 
police  officials  could  do  if  they  were  only  willing  to  live  up  to 
their  oaths  of  office.  But  when  viewed  in  the  light  of  facts  it 
appears  as  if  it  were  really  not  done  in  good  faith,  for  after 
that  the  police  not  only  did  not  close  this  place,  but  obligingly 
permitted  a  police  officer  to  keep  the  ticket-buyers  in  order 
while  they  openly  violated  the  laws.  To  illustrate  further,  the 
following  letter,  addressed  to  the  President  of  the  Police  Board 
of  Commissioners,  speaks  for  itself  : 


68  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

"  October  27,  1881. 

''STEPHEN  B.  FRENCH,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Board  of  Police  Commis- 
sioners, Mulberry  Street,  New  York  City. 

"  DEAR  SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  call  your  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  offices  of  the  Louisiana  State  Lottery  Company 
are  located  on  the  second  and  third  floors  of  2 1 2  Broadway, 
New  York  City. 

"  On  the  first  floor,  over  Knox's  hat  store,  the  office  is  fitted 
up  with  counters  and  glass  partitions  along  the  counters.  The 
door  of  this  office,  whenever  I  have  been  in  of  late,  has  stood 
wide  open,  so  that  any  person  going  up  the  stairs  can  see  a  line 
of  ticket-buyers  and  persons  transacting  business  with  the  clerks 
who  stand  behind  the  counter.  There  are  usually  four  or  five 
clerks  in  attendance. 

"  Tickets  are  obtained  by  filling  out  a  blank,  which  a  clerk 
supplies  to  purchasers,  and  putting  the  money  with  the  blanks, 
and  placing  the  same  in  an  envelope,  and  placing  the  envelope 
in  a  box  in  the  office. 

"  In  reply  to  these  orders  thus  left,  tickets  are  sent  by  mail 
with  a  letter  of  acknowledgment. 

"  I  quote  the  following  from  this  letter  of  advice  : 

1  Tickets  sold  at  this  office  drawing  prizes  of  $1000  and 
under  are  payable  on  presentation,  and  can  be  sent  to  me  for 
collection  by  registered  letter,  express,  or  through  banks. 
Tickets  drawing  over  $1000  must  be  sent  to  New  Orleans  for 
collection. 

'  Having  had  charge  of  this  office  since  its  establishment 
four  years  ago,  the  substitution  of  any  name  for  that  of  M.  A. 
Dauphin  does  not  involve  any  charge  of  management. 

'  Please  make  all  post-office  money-orders  and  bank  checks 
payable  to  me  individually.  Address  B.  Frank  Moore,  212 
Broadway,  New  York  City. ' 

"  I  inclose  a  circular,  which  speaks  for  itself,  received  from 
this  office  on  the  26th  inst. 

"  I  have  repeatedly  arrested  this  man  Moore,  and  he  has  also 
been  convicted  in  the  United  States  courts  for  violation  of  the 


GAMBLING   TRAPS.  69 

lottery  law.     I  arrested  him  last  week,  and  he  was  held  for  trial 
in  $1000  bail. 

"  I  inclose  a  copy  of  to-day's  paper  showing  the  published 
advertisement  of  this  lottery,  in  order  that  the  Superintendent 
may  have  minute  facts  to  work  upon. 

' '  I  beg  to  say  that  I  am  informed  that  the  clerks  on  the 
third  floor  are  busily  engaged  each  day  in  sending  out  circulars, 
letters,  and  tickets  through  the  mail,  and  I  believe  that  nearly 
this  entire  floor  is  occupied  by  the  clerks  thus  engaged  in  aiding 
and  abetting  a  lottery  in  this  State. 

"  I  beg  also  to  present  that  I  have  no  personal  feeling  against 
Mr.  Moore,  but  I  speak  on  behalf  of  young  men  that  are  made 
thieves  of,  and  the  poor  women  and  children  that  are  beggared 
and  starving  because  of  this  gambling  scheme,  and  I  am  sure 
that  when  these  facts  come  to  your  knowledge  it  will  be  your 
pleasure  to  at  once  suppress  what,  the  laws  and  Constitution  of 
this  State  declare  to  be  a  nuisance. 

' '  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  very  respectfully,  sir,  your  obedient 
servant, 

' '  ANTHONY  COMSTOCK,  Secretary. ' ' 

This  letter  received  no  response,  and  from  the  date  named  in 
it  down  to  December  8th,  when  I  raided  this  place,  assisted  by 
Mayor  Grace,  who  sent  one  of  the  city  marshals  with  me,  it  run 
in  full  blast,  as  the  records  now  in  my  possession  abundantly 
prove. 

I  do  not  say  nor  imply  that  any  police  official  was  bribed  ; 
but  this  I  do  say,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  Mr.  French 
or  any  of  his  associates  could  have  as  easily  closed  this  place  as 
I  did.  Any  one  of  them  had  but  to  ascend  to  the  head  of  one 
flight  of  stairs,  and  look  into  the  office  through  an  open  door, 
to  see  the  business  conducted  without  any  pretence  to  secrecy. 

So  with  the  other  lottery  schemes  which  the  police  have 
permitted  to  thrive  in  their  midst  during  the  past  ten  years,  and 
also  the  six  hundred  gambling-saloons  that  openly  did  a  thriv- 
ing business.  The  police  had  but  to  say  the  word,  and  they  had 


70  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

men  and  means  to  stamp  out  this  moral  pestilence.  But  they 
did  not. 

These  gamblers  have  often  boasted  that  they  were  protected 
by  the  police.  The  fact  that  they  were  not  raided  to  any  effect 
during  all  the  years  past,  until  public  sentiment  recently  forced 
it,  seemed  to  give  a  coloring  to  this  boast.  Pool-rooms,  gam- 
bling hells,  policy-shops,  and  lottery-offices  did  business  openly 
for  years,  and  the  police  had  a  list  of  all  these  places  in  their 
possession  ;  besides  which,  they  were  for  many  years  furnished 
a  daily  directory  by  the  printed  advertisements,  showing  where 
lottery  tickets  were  being  sold.  One  paper  published  in  New 
York  City  at  one  time  had  over  $540  worth  of  this  advertising, 
which  it  printed  daily. 

To  plead  ignorance  with  such  a  state  of  facts  is  virtually  to 
confess  to  glass  eyes,  cork  ears,  and  block  heads. 

The  fads  are,  that  for  political  or  other  baser  reasons,  these 
gambling  schemes  were  tolerated  and  permitted  to  exist.  The  poli- 
tician has  taken  the  place  of  the  patriot.  Good  men  have  been 
so  occupied  with  business  and  society  that  they  have  allowed 
our  positions  of  trust  to  be  rilled  with  weak  if  not  corrupt  men. 
The  man  who  shall  hold  that  the  existence  of  crime  is  justified 
because  it  contributes  to  any  political  or  other  organization,  is 
utterly  unfit  to  execute  our  laws  or  hold  any  position  of  trust. 
To  do  this  is  to  destroy  suffrage  and  all  equality  before  the 
laws.  The  rights  of  the  weak  are  made  subservient  to  the 
strong,  the  honest  to  the  dishonest,  the  credulous  to  the  vicious, 
the  industrious  to  the  idle,  and  the  patient  toiler  to  the  lazy 
vagabond  who  lives  by  his  wits. 

I  appeal  to  every  patriot  and  philanthropist  in  the  land,  on 
the  broad  ground  of  prosperity  to  our  country,  durability  to 
our  institutions,  and  the  highest  welfare  of  the  morals  of  all 
classes,  to  eliminate  this  scourge,  this  knavery,  from  our  politics. 

It  is  dangerous  to  condense  into  the  hands  of  a  few  unscru- 
pulous men  such  mighty  power  as  this  great  wealth  secured  by 
such  unprincipled  means. 

For  two  years  in  succession  an  attempt  has  been  made  in 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  71 

the  Legislature  at  Albany  to  legislate  away  the  rights  of  citizens, 
to  enforce  these  laws  by  a  most  specious  and  vicious  bill,  in- 
troduced by  M.  C.  Murphy,  of  New  York.  This  bill  was 
designed,  as  it  was  claimed  by  the  members  of  the  gambling 
fraternity  in  New  York,  to  do  what  the  police  had  not  been 
able  to  do  on  account  of  the  activity  of  the  agents  of  the  New 
York  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice — to  wit,  give  complete 
protection  to  these  crimes.  It  was  claimed  that  after  protection 
had  been  guaranteed  the  contract  would  be  broken  by  the 
agents  of  the  above  society  arresting  these  gamblers  ;  that  the 
police  could  not  secure  them  protection  from  these  arrests. 
This  bill,  as  originally  drawn,  was  designed  to  condense  the 
rights  of  every  citizen  to  see  that  the  laws  are  enforced  under 
the  will  of  one  man  ;  and  it  was  thought  that  enough  of  polit- 
ical influence  could  be  secured  to  control  the  prosecuting 
attorney,  and  cause  him  to  withhold  his  appointment  of  any  to 
enforce  these  laws,  save  as  the  fraternity  of  thieves  should  sug- 
gest. This  bill  was  designed  to  be  so  cunningly  worded  that 
its  friends  would  find  little  or  no  difficulty  in  securing  its  pas- 
sage, as  it  was  thought  that  by  making  the  title  misleading,  as 
to  ' '  spies  who  induce, ' '  etc. ,  that  they  could  effectually  legis- 
late away  the  rights  of  every  citizen  in  this  respect. 

To  Mr.  W.  C  Beecher,  the  former  Assistant  District  Attorney 
of  New  York  City,  is  largely  due  the  defeat  of  this  obnoxious 
measure.  The  annexed  protest  was  prepared,  and  signatures 
to  the  same  were  secured  by  him,  and  he  and  the  writer  pre- 
sented the  same  to  the  Assembly  Judiciary  Committee,  to 
whom  the  Murphy  "Spy  bill,"  as  it  is  called,  had  been  re- 
ferred. 

The  bill  did  not  pass. 

"AN  ACT  entitled  '  An  act  in  respect  to  spies  who  assist,  induce, 
or  inveigle  others  to  commit  crimes  for  the  purpose  of  in- 
forming against  them,1  as  follows  : 

"  SECTION  i.  Whenever  any  person  assists,  induces  or  inveigles 
another  to  commit  a  crime  or  violate  any  penal  statute  of  this 


72  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

State,  for  the  purpose  and  with  the  intent  to  inform  against  that 
person,  or  to  convict  him  thereof  \>y  the  aid  of  his  testimony  as  a 
witness  for  the  prosecution  on  the  trial  of  the  accused,  such 
witness  shall  be  deemed  and  held  to  be  particeps  criminis  in  the 
alleged  offence,  and  in  every  way  equally  guilty  with  the  accused 
person,  and  subject  to  the  same  fines  and  penalties,  unless  it  shall 
be  shown  that  the  witness  acted  under  the  order  and  by  direc- 
tion of  the  District  Attorney  of  the  county  where  the  crime  is 
alleged  to  have  been  committed.  Any  person  who  induces 
another  to  commit  a  crime,  with  the  intent  and  for  the  purpose 
as  hereinbefore  set  forth,  shall  be  known  and  designated  for  the 
purposes  of  this  act  as  a  spy. 

"  SEC.  2.  Nothing  in  this  act  contained  shall  be  construed  as 
making  it  compulsory  on  the  part  of  a  spy  to  testify  in  any 
action  or  proceeding,  where  by  so  doing  he  would  be  liable  to 
any  of  the  fines  and  penalties  as  provided  in  the  first  section  of 
this  act,  but  on  the  trial  of  a  spy  for  an  offence  under  the  first 
section  it  shall  be  competent  to  show  any  of  his  acts,  words,  or 
statements  made  in  or  out  of  court,  or  under  oath  or  otherwise, 
where  the  same  relates  to  the  points  at  issue. 

"  SEC.  3.  Whenever  a  spy  shall  be  tried  and  convicted  of  an 
offence  under  this  act,  and  the  jury,  on  rendering  their  verdict 
of  conviction,  shall  accompany  the  same  with  a  recommenda- 
tion of  the  convicted  to  the  mercy  of  the  court,  it  shall  be  the 
duty  of  the  court  to  mitigate  his  punishment,  and  the  court 
may,  in  its  discretion,  suspend  its  judgment  or  sentence  in  the 
matter. ' ' 

"  PROTEST. 

"  Understanding  that  a  bill  has  been  proposed  in  the  Legis- 
lature at  Albany,  of  which  the  above  is  a  copy,  the  undersigned 
are  of  opinion  that  the  bill  is  unwise  and  unnecessary. 

"  Unwise,  because  in  all  those  crimes  which  consist  in  the  sale 
of  articles  prohibited  or  restricted  by  law,  xhe  proposed  bill 
punishes  as  a  criminal  the  law  officer  or  citizen  who  seeks 
evidence  to  suppress  such  crimes  unless  specially  authorized, 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  73 

but  remains  silent  as  to  those  who  really  'assist'  as  regular 
customers.  It  needlessly  increases  the  duties  of  District  Attor- 
neys, already  sufficiently  onerous,  by  putting  upon  them  the 
responsibility  of  ordering  and  directing  every  law  officer  and 
citizen  who  may  thus  seek  to  suppress  crime. 

"  It  tends  to  interfere  with  the  efficiency  and  discipline  of  the 
police  force,  by  making  them  subject  to  two  heads,  their  own 
chief  and  the  District  Attorney  ;  and  to  prevent  promptitude 
and  despatch. 

' '  In  large  counties  great  practical  difficulty  would  be  experi- 
enced in  many  instances  on  the  part  of  those  who  live  at  a 
distance  from  the  District  Attorney,  in  getting  his  order  and 
direction. 

' '  Its  substantial  effect  will  be  rather  to  protect  than  restrain 
criminals,  and  to  hinder  the  enforcement  of  the  law. 

' '  In  many  cases  it  will  render  the  conviction  of  certain  classes 
of  criminals  practically  impossible. 

"  It  is  unnecessary,  because  the  existing  laws  sufficiently  pro- 
vide for  the  punishment  of  accessories — and, 

"  There  is  no  existing  evil  which  calls  for  any  such  new 
remedy  as  this  bill  proposes. 

' '  We  are  of  the  opinion  that  the  bill  should  not  be  enacted. 
The  growth  of  crime  in  this  country,  by  the  constant  importa- 
tion of  criminals  from  foreign  countries,  demands  that  justice 
should  be  left  free  to  meet  the  cunning  of  crime  with  similar 
weapons,  which  in  many  cases  are  the  only  adequate  means 
for  its  detection.  The  proposed  bill  is  obviously  intended  to 
give  free  scope  to  those  classes  of  crimes  which  are  carried  on 
with  such  secrecy  and  cunning  that  the  only  chance  of  preven- 
tion or  punishment  is  found  in  the  shrewdness,  energy,  and 
courage  of  skilful  detectives.  Where  abuses  exist  in  the  proc- 
esses of  such  detectives,  the  courts  and  juries  are  certain  to 
see  that  no  unjust  advantage  grows  out  of  their  action. 

"  But  this  bill  will  be  effectually  used  to  shield  crime,  by 
making  criminal  honest  efforts  to  detect  and  prevent  or  pun- 
ish it. 


74  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

"  Noah  Davis,  Judge  Supreme  Court 

11  Frederick  Smyth,  Recorder. 

"  H.  A.  Gildersleeve,  Judge  General  Sessions. 

"  Charles  Donahue,  Judge  Supreme  Court. 

"  John  McKeon,  District  Attorney,  New  York  County. 

"  George  G.  Reynolds,  Judge  City  Court,  Brooklyn. 

"  J.  Neilson,  Judge  Supreme  Court,  Kings  County. 

"  Daniel  G.  Rollins,  late  District  Attorney. 

"  I.  S.  Catlin,  District  Attorney,  Kings  County. 

"  G.  L.  Backus,  Assistant  District  Attorney,  Kings  County. 

"  Francis  C.  Barlow. 

' '  Rufus  B.  Cowing,  Judge  General  Sessions  Court. 

"  The  word  'assist'  in  this  bill  makes  it  decidedly  objection- 
able, and  it  should  not  be  passed  as  presented,  in  my  opinion. 

"  J.  R.  Brady,  Judge  Supreme  Court. 
"  C.  R.  Ingalls,  Judge  Supreme  Court." 

As  has  been  shown,  the  foregoing  bill  was  designed  to  cover 
all  crimes  which  consist  in  violations  of  laws  by  selling  contra- 
band or  prohibited  articles. 

Every  one  of  this  class  of  crimes,  which  were  thus  sought  to 
be  protected  by  this  infamous  bill,  consists  of  selling  against 
the  law  wares  that  destroy  the  morals  of  the  community.  For 
instance,  obscene  books  and  pictures,  articles  for  indecent  use, 
lottery  and  policy  tickets,  the  unlawful  sale  of  liquor,  pool 
gambling,  all  these  and  more  pay  large  blackmail  for  the  privi- 
lege of  corrupting  the  morals  of  the  community,  and  making 
criminals  for  law-abiding  citizens  to  support. 

For  downright  impertinence,  and  as  a  capital  illustration  of 
the  arrogance  and  consummate  impudence  of  the  lottery  men 
and  their  advocates,  the  following  letter,  received  by  the  Hon. 
John  McKeon,  after  his  successful  raid  upon  the  policy  head- 
quarters by  Pinkerton's  men,  speaks  for  itself ; 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  75 

"  No.  120  BROADWAY,  NEW  YORK,  September  25,  1882. 
"  HONORABLE  DISTRICT  ATTORNEY  : 

"  SIR  :  The  raid  upon  the  policy  shops,  instigated  by  the  Dis- 
trict Attorney,  has  excited  the  utmost  indignation  among  the 
thirty  thousand  or  forty  thousand  voters  who  are  in  the  habit 
of  playing  in  these  lotteries  in  this  city  alone,  and  cannot  fail 
to  have  a  disastrous  effect  on  the  Democratic  cause  at  the  next 
election.  It  has  always  been  an  understood  thing  that  whoever 
takes  an  active  part  against  these  players  will  be  voted  against 
at  the  subsequent  elections.  This  has  been  the  case  for  many 
years,  and  it  is  a  well-known  fact  that  no  one  who  has  offended 
these  electors  in  this  way  has  ever  been  re-elected  to  any  office. 
It  was  in  consequence  of  Cornell's  hostile  attitude  and  proc- 
lamation against  lotteries  that  he  was  not  renominated.  They 
were  afraid  to  renominate  him  again,  because  of  the  known 
determination  of  these  30,000  electors  in  New  York  to  vote 
against  him.  He  would  have  been  certainly  defeated  had  he 
been  nominated.  Neither  Republicans  nor  Democrats  can 
afford  to  nominate  a  man  who  has  taken  an  active  part  against 
the  lotteries.  The  players  consider  it  a  perfectly  innocent 
amusement,  as  it  is  not  condemned  or  forbidden  in  the  Bible, 
although  the  Jews  at  the  time  the  New  Testament  was  written 
constantly  used  lotteries  ;  and  as  almost  all  European  nations 
use  and  encourage  them,  it  is  certain  that  there  can  be  nothing 
hurtful  or  injurious  to  morality  in  them.  No  other  District 
Attorney  of  either  political  party  ever  interfered  with  the  busi- 
ness, because  it  was  thought  to  be  out  of  their  line  of  duty  and 
would  be  an  impertinent  interference  with  the  duty  of  other 
officials,  and  show  too  great  an  ignorance  of  the  etiquette  which 
usually  is  observed  among  gentlemen.  No  wonder  that  some 
of  the  judges  have  remonstrated  at  this  act  when  they  consider 
the  injury  it  will  do  to  the  Democratic  party  by  alienating  the 
vote  of  30,000  voters  and  insuring  the  enmity  of  the  owners  of 
the  lotteries,  who  wield  such  vast  political  power  and  influence 
over  the  constituencies  in  this  and  all  other  large  towns  and 
cities  of  the  United  States.  It  is  conceded  on  all  hands  that 


76  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

they  have  power  to  control  the  elections  in  this  city,  and  neither 
political  party  can  afford  to  have  their  cause  ruined  in  this  way. 
"  Your  obedient  servant, 

"  JOHN  SULLIVAN." 

Having  found  a  District  Attorney  with  enough  good,  old- 
fashioned,  true  manhood  about  him,  so  that  the  money  argu- 
ment of  the  fraternity  of  thieves  has  no  effect,  they  turn  from 
fawning  and  bribery  to  threats  and  ' '  bulldozing. ' '  They 
may  be  assured  that  they  are  ' '  barking  up  the  wrong  tree. ' ' 
Honest  John  McKeon  does  not  scare. 

This  letter  illustrates  too  the  inner  workings  of  the  political 
leaders  who  bend  their  necks  to  the  yokes  of  these  gamblers. 
It  shows  the  modern  principles,  the  absolute  sacrificing  of 
everything  lofty,  noble,  and  upright  in  man  and  party  to  the 
nod  of  the  managers  who  wield  such  vast  political  power  and 
influence  over  the  constituencies  in  this  and  all  other  large 
towns  and  cities  in  the  United  States.  If  this  power  and  influ- 
ence are  as  represented  by  the  wail  of  Sullivan,  then  the  quicker 
both  political  parties  are  blotted  out  of  existence  the  better  ; 
otherwise  we  must  label  them,  ' '  Owned  by  gamblers  and 
thieves. " 

Patriots,  to  the  front !  Our  liberties  are  in  danger  !  No  man 
should  be  elected  to  office  with  this  taint  upon  him.  Down 
with  the  thieves  ! 


CHAPTER  VI. 

GAMBLING    TRAPS    (CONTINUED). 

' '  Poke-a-moke, ' '  or  Policy. 

FOLLOWING  in  the  wake  of  lottery  comes  that  quintessence  of 
meanness — policy.  This  is  a  parasite  that  lives  upon  lotteries. 
Policy,  or  "  poke-a-moke,"  is  a  bet  or  wager  that  certain  num- 
bers will  be  drawn  in  a  lottery  or  appear  in  a  certain  position 
or  combination  in  the  drawings,  made  twice  a  day  from 
seventy-eight  numbers.  Twelve,  thirteen,  or  fourteen  num- 
bers, as  the  scale  may  be,  are  supposed  to  be  drawn  out  of  the 
numbers  from  i  to  78. 

This  is  the  most  contemptible  kind  of  mean  gambling.  It 
offers  dazzling  inducements  to  the  pennies  of  the  poor.  It  is 
robbery,  merciless  and  high-handed.  It  is  worse  than  the 
highwayman,  who  creeps  up  in  the  darkness  of  night,  and 
striking  his  victim  down  from  behind  robs  him  of  his  valuables. 
It  can  torture  the  suffering  poor — arousing  high  hopes  only  to 
crush  them  with  bitter  disappointment — destroy  the  integrity  of 
youth,  take  the  coat  off  the  poor  man's  back,  and  the  food 
out  of  the  mouth  of  babes,  without  a  quiver  or  blush. 

It  is  surrounded  by  all  the  sense  of  mystery  with  which  the 
gambler  clothes  his  schemes.  It  is  superstition's  stronghold. 
The  negro  dreams  a  dream,  the  Irishman  or  woman  has  a 
"  presintimint,"  and  the  German  a  vision,  and  each  rushes  to 
the  "  dream-book,"  kept  in  every  policy  den,  to  see  what  num- 
ber the  dream  or  vision  calls  for. 

The  following  are  specimens.  A  dream  about  any  of  the 
following  subjects  calls  for  the  numbers  set  opposite  each,  to 
wit  : 

Fire,  6,  46,  69.  Funeral,  3,  5,  u,  29. 

Fox,  4,  7,  ii.  Gold,  63,  74. 


78  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

Murder,  7,  13,  20.  Rain,  43,  45. 

Hunting,  14,  37,  61.  Spider,  54,  75. 

Again,  the  policy-player  will  see  a  number,  on  a  greenback, 
or  on  a  licensed  vender's  wagon,  or  on  some  house,  that 
catches  his  eye  ;  at  once  it  argues  to  his  disordered  fancy  a 
promise  of  luck,  and  he  will  rush  to  the  "  poke-a-moke"  shop 
and  play  those  numbers.  For  instance,  suppose  the  bill  to  be 
55,075,  the  player  will  play  a  "  gig,"  by  making  it  5,  50,  75, 
for  whatever  amount  he  chooses. 

Superstition  is  sensitive,  and  no  amount  of  persuasion  can 
convince  the  dreamer  or  player  that  the  numbers  suggested  as 
above  are  not  just  the  ones  for  him  to  play. 

In  order  to  lay  the  evil  clearly  before  thinking  men — and 
many  officials  are  ignorant  of  this  device — let  me  present,  in 
simple  manner,  some  of  the  secrets  of  this  game.  The  whole 
thing  depends  on  the  numbers  drawn,  and  their  relative  posi- 
tion as  drawn.  The  following  represents  a  drawing,  and  is 
known  in  the  fraternity  as  a  "  slip."  These  are  sent  around 
to  every  shop  twice  a  day. 


Class  138  78-13 


ist,      ad,      36,    4th,    sth,    6th,    7th,    8th,    gth,   loth,  nth,  izth,  I3th,    I4th, 

53  77  89  -4  19  63  10  49  57  32  18  23  61 


Class  238-78-is 

ist,   ad,  3d,  4th,  sth,  6th,  jth,  Sth,  gth,  toth,  nth,  i2th,  I3th,  I4th 

744257321939-7-45312596456 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  79 

In  its  promises  to  pay,  the  dragon-teeth  are  most  clearly  dis- 
played. A  word  of  explanation  will  illustrate  this  point 

The  "  ist"  point  is  the  "first  station,"  the  "ad"  the 
' '  second  station, ' '  etc.  A  player  playing  a  station  number 
virtually  wagers  that  the  number  he  selects  will  come  out  in 
the  next  drawing  in  the  particular  statior  he  names.  For 
instance,  suppose  he  plays  No.  "  18  first,"  he  means  that 
"  1 8  "  will  come  out  ' '  first. ' '  In  this  play  the  backers  offer 
"  $50  to  $i"  odds  against  the  player. 

Then  there  are  ' '  capital-saddle  stations, ' '  which  pay  ' '  $400 
to  $i."  The  first  three  numbers  on  the  "  slip"  represent  the 
first  station,  and  a  "  capital  saddle"  is  two  numbers  played  to 
come  out  in  the  first  three,  if  played  for  "  i  st  station. "  There 
are  four  capital- saddle  stations,  the  first  three  drawn  numbers 
comprising  the  first,  the  second  three  the  second,  and  so  on. 

A  "  gig"  is  three  numbers,  and  pays  "  $200  to  $i." 

A  "  horse"  is  four  numbers,  and  if  played  in  both  ballots 
pays  "  $500  to  $i."  All  these  plays  require,  in  order  for  the 
player  to  win,  that  all  his  numbers  shall  appear  in  the  twelve 
drawn. 

There  are  other  plays,  but  the  above  will  illustrate  the  prin- 
ciple. Now  for  the  practice — the  tricks  and  devices  to  rob. 

But  very  little  office  furniture  is  required  to  fit  up  an  office 
for  this  kind  of  swindling.  The  votaries  are  not  usually  as 
fastidious  as  the  players  of  "roulette,"  "faro,"  or  "rouge 
etnoir."  No  extravagant  lay-out  is  required.  A  simple  room 
with  a  board  partition  to  divide  it  into  two  apartments  ;  in  the 
front  a  counter  with  empty  cigar-boxes,  -and  in  the  window  in 
front  a  sign,  ' '  Cigars, "  "  Exchange, "  or  "  Coal  office. ' '  Then 
a  door  leading  into  the  inner  apartment,  with  a  spring-bolt 
having  a  cord  attached  running  to  the  rear  of  the  front  counter, 
so  that  the  lookout  can  easily  open  for  the  visitor.  Then  a 
rough  counter  with  a  small  desk  upon  the  top.  A  sheet  of  tin, 
a  few  sheets  of  carbonated  paper,  a  manifold-book  and  pencil 
for  keeping  the  record  of  the  plays,  and  a  few  strips  of  blank 
paper  to  write  the  policies  upon.  These,  with  a  blackboard 


80  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

on  the  wall  on  which  to  post  the  drawings  as  they  come  in 
twice  a  day,  and  a  piece  of  chalk,  and  we  have  a  policy  office 
complete.  I  should  add  a  rough  bench  or  a  few  chairs,  and  a 
rusty  stove  in  winter.  One  important  adjunct  to  all  this  furni- 
ture, in  order  to  complete  the  picture,  is  a  human  being, 
willing  for  about  $9  per  week  to  sell  himself  soul  and  body  to 
the  managers  of  these  schemes.  He  must  be  as  devoid  of 
moral  sensibilities  as  the  furniture  is  of  paint  or  finish. 

For  instance,  in  one  case,  where  I  went  with  one  of  our 
former  mayors  in  New  York,  I  heard  a  poor  fellow,  who  had 
spent  his  last  penny,  plead  for  just  one  more  chance  on  a  credit 
of  "  five  cents."  The  head  one  in  the  office  heard  him  as  he 

addressed  the  writer,  and  said  with  an  oath,  ' '  Thump  that 

in  the  nose  and  throw  him  down  stairs  if  he  don't  shut 
up." 

The  plays  are  made  and  recorded  in  something  of  the  follow- 
ing manner.  A  player  who  has  dreamed  of  fire  conies  in. 
He  consults  the  "  wheel  of  fortune"  as  it  is  called,  or  "  dream- 
book,"  and  then  says,  "  Give  me  6,  49,  69  in  both  lotteries 
for  $50."  The  writer  takes  his  manifold- book  and  records  the 
numbers  and  amounts,  taking  care  to  put  the  play  in  the 
column  of  large  plays,  and  then  writes  out  a  paper  as  follows  : 

B.  Ex.  Sept.  1 1 , 
6>  49,  69,  g  50 

This  he  gives  the  player  as  his  policy  or  voucher,  and  the  player 
pays  fifty  cents  for  the  same,  as  it  is  played  in  both  lotteries. 

They  claim  to  have  a  "  Georgia"  and  a  "  Kentucky"  lottery, 
both  of  which  are  fraudulent,  as  neither  State  now  has  any 
lottery  grants. 

Consider  the  offered  inducements  to  the  poor,  and  to  young 
men  struggling  for  a  livelihood.  Five  hundred  dollars  for  one 
dollar  is  a  great  temptation  to  a  youth  scarcely  earning  enough 
to  keep  body  and  soul  together.  "  Try  your  luck,  you  may 
make  a  hit,"  is  the  first  whispering  of  the  tempter.  After  he 
gets  the  victim  nibbling,  then  it  is,  ' '  You'  re  sure  to  make  a  hit 


GAMBLING   TKAPS.  81 

some  time  ;"  and  so  little  by  little  he  keeps  on  until  position, 
honor,  character,  and  self-respect  are  sacrificed  in  this  vain 
attempt  at  almost  an  impossibility. 

This  scheme  is  much  more  readily  manipulated  by  its  mana- 
gers than  a  lottery  with  100,000  numbers.  There  are  here  but 
twelve  numbers  to  be  drawn. 

Now  what  becomes  of  the  record  of  plays  kept  by  the  writer 
on  his  manifold-book  ?  He,  by  means  of  his  carbonated  paper 
and  sheet  of  tin,  makes  three  impressions  on  different  sheets  at 
the  same  stroke  of  his  pencil.  One  he  keeps,  one  goes  to  his 
immediate  employer  who  owns  the  shop,  and  the  other  to  the 
manager  of  the  scheme.  The  headquarters  were  formerly  at 
263^  Bowery,  and  afterward  in  Mercer  Street,  in  the  rear  of 
599  Broadway. 

There  have  been,  during  the  past  five  years,  600  or  more  of 
these  and  other  gambling  dens  open  in  full  blast  in  New  York 
City,  and  yet  2500  of  the  "  best  police  in  the  world,"  every 
one  of  whom  is  sworn  to  enforce  these  laws,  backed  by  a  pay- 
roll of  upward  of  $3,000,000  annually,  could  not  find  these 
violators  of  the  laws.  They  could  find  and  oppose  an  organi- 
zation (Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice)  which  opened 
relentless  war  upon  these  dens.  Between  the  police,  during 
the  years  from  1877  to  1881,  and  these  places  there  seemed  a 
chasm,  which  was  bridged  by  "  protection,"  the  foundations 
of  which  may  have  been  bribery  for  aught  I  know.  I  do  not 
say  it  was,  but  if  the  statements  of  some  of  these  gamblers  could 
be  believed,  the  record  of  the  police  is  blacker  than  that  of 
these  criminals.  Why  did  not  the  police  enforce  these  laws  ? 
Why  do  they  complain  that  our  brave  District  Attorney  has 
stepped  before  them  in  battle  array,  and  sent  a  quivering  shaft 
into  the  very  headquarters  of  these  robbery  devices  ?  Had 
not  they  time  enough  to  close  them  ?  Could  they  not  have 
accomplished  in  five  years  what  he  has  done  in  less  than  five 
months  ? 

If  they  choose  to  violate  their  oaths,  it  is  no  reason  why 
others  should  not  esteem  the  oath  of  office  binding  upon  them- 


82  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

selves.     The  best  thing  they  can  do  is  to  profit  by  the  example 
set  them  and  close  and  keep  closed  these  pest-holes. 

Every  policy  shop  in  New  York  and  Brooklyn  is  required  to 
send  to  policy  headquarters,  twice  each  day,  a  correct  copy  of 
the  plays  made.  These  must  all  be  sent  in  before  the  "  slips" 
or  printed  drawings  can  be  sent  out.  At  this  headquarters,  at 
noon  and  in  the  evening  these  policy  books  are  examined  by 
clerks  in  charge.  Over  and  over  again  I  have  been  informed 
by  parties  whom  I  have  arrested  for  conducting  these  schemes, 
that  they  are  required  to  keep  separate,  or  to  draw  off  on  a 
separate  slip  of  paper,  all  plays  of  $50  and  upward,  so  that  the 
manager  at  a  glance  can  see  what  numbers  are  thus  played  for 
large  amounts.  Now  see  how  easy  to  defraud  !  Suppose  a 
man  has  played  a  ' '  gig' '  — three  numbers — for  a  hundred 
dollars,  or  suppose  he  has  played  "14  first"  for  a  thousand 
dollars.  This  play  is  sent  direct  to  the  manager.  He  sees  the 
numbers.  It  is  very  easy  to  drop  one  of  the  three  numbers,  if 
the  three  should  all  appear  in  the  list,  to  be  sent  out  (I  do 
not  say  drawn  numbers,  for  I  do  not  believe  there  ever  is  an 
honest  drawing) ;  or  to  make  the  first  number  15  or  1 6  in  place 
of  14.  How  does  this  affect  the  player?  He  looks  at  the 
"slip,"  in  blissful  ignorance  of  the  manipulations,  and  then 
says,  ' '  I  have  come  within  one  of  it, ' '  when,  if  what  is  claimed 
is  done,  he  has  not  come  within  one  millionth  part  of  a  chance, 
as  all  the  chance  he  had  was  that,  after  the  list  had  been  doc- 
tored up,  the  printer  might,  by  some  mistake  on  his  part,  print 
the  number  played  in  place  of  the  one  selected  by  alteration. 

Why  should  all  books  be  sent  in  before  any  of  the  slips  are 
sent  out  ?  Why  is  there  a  small  army  of  clerks  at  policy  head- 
quarters on  the  alert  to  examine  their  books  before  the  drawn 
numbers  are  sent  out  ? 

Not  unfrequently  have  complaints  been  brought  to  my  office, 
where  a  poor  person  who  has  made  a  hit  and  gone  back  to 
claim  the  same  with  his  policy,  had  his  paper  forcibly  taken 
from  him,  torn  up,  thus  destroying  the  evidence  of  his  play, 
and  he  thrown  into  the  streets  without  his  money. 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  83 

At  this  scheme  all  classes,  and  persons  of  all  ages,  can  play 
from  one  cent  upward.  It  is  pitiful  indeed  to  watch  the  poor 
starving  creature,  as  he  or  she  crawls  into  one  of  these  places 
and  deposits  the  last  half-dime,  which  should  be  used  to  buy 
bread  with,  and  stakes  it  for  the  sake  of  "  trying  their  luck  just 
once  more."  Again,  I  have  seen  the  managers  of  these  heart- 
less schemes,  with  solitaire  diamonds  worth  thousands  of  dollars 
on  their  bosoms,  come  into  court  and  refuse  to  give  bail  or 
pay  the  paltry  fine  imposed  on  their  employes,  who  will  suffer 
and  go  to  jail  before  they  will  betray  their  employer.  Wife 
and  child  go  for  naught  with  these  men.  The  employer  before 
either  of  these.  The  complacency  with  which  a  policy-writer 
will  take  a  sentence  to  imprisonment,  and  as  he  passes  out  of 
court  to  go  to  the  Tombs,  curse  his  weeping  wife,  is  something 
astonishing.  This  I  have  seen  more  than  once.  These  are 
caricatures  of  true  men.  They  are  forms  hollowed  out  by  this 
cursed  traffic  until  there  is  nothing  but  form  left. 

A  writer  employed  by  a  man  named  Luthey  had  two  little 
children.  He  had  been  arrested,  indicted,  and  by  advice  of 
Luthey's  counsel  pleaded  "guilty."  He  wanted  Luthey  to 
provide  for  his  children  while  he  was  in  prison.  Luthey  refused, 
but  told  him  to  bring  the  ' '  young  ones' '  into  court  and  stand 
them  up  there,  and  tell  the  judge  they  had  no  one  to  provide 
for  them,  and  then  if  he  was  sent  to  prison,  to  leave  them  there. 
I  was  in  court  when  this  was  done,  and  I  heard  this  boss-gam- 
bler say  that  he  had  given  direction  to  have  this  done.  And  he 
sat  there  while  his  clerk  was  sentenced,  and  refused  to  do  a  thing 
for  the  children,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  he  was  personally 
appealed  to  to  take  care  of  his  employe's  family.  He  replied, 
"  Let  the  judge  send  them  to  some  institution."  Instead,  I 
know  that  an  amount  was  quietly  made  up,  headed  by  large- 
hearted  Judge  Cowing,  and  these  little  ones  were  placed  in 
charge  of  a  kind  lady  to  be  cared  for.  Not  a  cent,  however, 
was  given  by  this  man  Luthey,  who  sat  there  with  diamonds 
worth  not  far  from  $5000  on  his  person.  This  is  the  man  who 
formerly  ran  the  ' '  Jacksonville' '  and  ' '  Florida' '  lottery 


84 


TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 


policies.  I  searched  his  headquarters  in  Greenwich  Street  on 
one  occasion  ;  I  found  no  wheel  for  drawing  numbers,  but  on 
an  upper  floor  I  found  a  small  printing-press,  with  the  electro- 
plates where  he  printed  the  drawings  in  these  mythical  and 
fraudulent  lotteries.  There  are  no  such  lotteries. 

Now  consider  a  moment  the  income  from  these  schemes. 
Take  the  600  open  dens  that  existed  in  New  York  for  years 
until  recently.  Allow  but  $15  per  day  to  be  taken  in  on  an 
average  to  each  place  (this  is  a  very  low  estimate),  and  we 
have  $2,875,000  per  year. 

The  estimate  of  $15  per  day  is  very  low,  as  one  defaulter 
confessed  to  spending  from  $400  to  $500  per  day  of  his  plunder 
in  one  of  these  places. 

The  following  is  a  transcript  from  the  books  of  one  of  the 
policy  managers  in  New  York  City,  showing  the  receipts, 
expenditures,  and  profits  from  cities  outside  of  New  York,  as 
returned  to  him  here. 

This  copy  I  made  myself  from  his  books,  to  wit : 

Out-of-Town  Trade  in  Policy. 


Year. 

Sales. 

Expenses,  etc. 

Gains. 

20  cities,  1872  

$1,755,090.89 

$i,3io.m4.26 

$444  766  61 

20              1871  .  . 

916  661  25 

666  750  65 

249  910  60 

20              187.1.  . 

691  008  84 

C21  2O2  O7 

167  805  87 

20              1875  

802,020.11 

627,o6e;.<;o 

174,061  81 

8              1876  

46<;  44.2  21 

147  600  20 

1  1  8  111  O4 

6              1877.  . 

529  282.09 

442  136  26 

87  146  83 

Total  

$5  160  414  61 

!$1  oi7  «;i8  71 

$i  242  926  78 

Washington,   1880.  . 

$121,853.83 

$90,136.91 

$31,716.88 

The  following  cities  are  included  in  the  returns  for  1872, 
while  but  part  of  them  are  included  in  more  recent  years,  to 
wit :  Washington,  Chicago,  Louisville,  Baltimore,  Milwaukee, 
Allentown,  Richmond,  Philadelphia,  Norfolk,  Troy,  N.  Y., 
Petersburg,  Paducah,  Providence,  R.  I.,  Albany,  Buffalo, 
Auburn,  Utica,  Manchester,  Lynchburg. 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  85 

"  Expenses"  covers  all  office  rents,  clerk  hire,  lawyers'  fees, 
fines,  official  blackmail  "  for  protection, "  printing,  advertising, 
and  the  few  hits  allowed  to  come  out  for  the  sake  of  keeping 
up  excitement  and  appearances.  To  the  amount  of  "sales" 
must  be  added  twelve  and  a  half  per  cent,  of  the  amount  each 
year,  in  order  to  secure  the  gross  receipts.  This  amount  is 
allowed  in  commissions  to  the  writers,  and  is  deducted  by  them. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  from  my  description  of  one  of  these 
places  that  there  are  none  of  greater  pretensions.  A  policy 
shop  fitted  up  in  elegant  style  is  a  great  rarity.  But  many  are 
obliged  to  pay  a  high  rent,  and  were  maintained  on  Broadway 
and  other  prominent  thoroughfares. 

It  is  said  that  the  managers  of  one  lottery  paid  for  two  floors, 
over  the  store  at  2 1 2  Broadway,  $600  per  month  rent,  and  had 
a  five  years'  lease. 

This  is  a  mere  bagatelle  for  a  concern  that  takes  in  $5 1 76 
per  day,  as  this  one  office  did. 

In  August,  1882,  the  Hon.  John  McKeon  carried  out, 
through  his  assistant,  Mr.  H.  C.  Allen,  one  of  the  most  won- . 
derful  and  successful  raids  on  policy  headquarters  that  has  ever 
been  known  in  this  or  any  other  country.  It  is  a  marvel  that 
a  raid  involving  so  many  ramifications,  where  so  many  detec- 
tives were  employed  for  so  long  a  time,  could  be  carried  to  a 
successful  culmination,  and  yet  not  a  word  leak  out,  nor  any- 
thing be  discovered  by  any  of  the  "very  best"  in  the  world.  It 
speaks  volumes  for  the  discipline  and  efficiency  of  Mr.  Pinker- 
ton's  detective  agency  and  the  District  Attorney  and  his  assist- 
ant. The  people  of  the  State  of  New  York  are  to  be  congratu- 
lated on  having  such  a  District  Attorney.  The  Society  for  the 
Suppression  of  Vice  year  after  year  kept  piling  up  indictments 
in  the  State  courts  against  these  gamblers.  From  March, 
1877,  to  September,  1880,  these  cases  remained  untried  in  the 
District  Attorney's  office.  Then  Mr.  Daniel  G.  Rollins  com- 
ing into  command  commenced  prosecutions,  and  in  six  months 
secured  more  convictions  than  had  been  made  before  in  the  six 
years  previous. 


86  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

Mr.  McKeon  came  into  office  with  a  determination  to  enforce 
all  laws.  At  a  meeting  of  prominent  gentlemen  to  extend 
congratulation  to  him  shortly  after  his  election,  he  defined  his 
platform  as  follows.  Said  he  : 

"  There  is  but  one  pledge  can  be  given  by  me,  and  that  is, 
so  far  as  lies  in  my  power,  the  laws  of  the  State  shall  be  exe- 
cuted without  fear,  favor,  or  affection. ' ' 

This  magnificent  raid  entered  the  heretofore  secret  policy 
headquarters  and  gutted  it,  while  the  backers  and  clerks  were 
arrested  and  held  for  trial.  This  gratified  the  public  and  greatly 
surprised  the  police  force.  While  the  former  were  loud  in 
applause,  the  latter  announced  themselves  slighted  and  injured. 

Again,  the  police  were  much  chagrined  that  the  Society  for 
the  Suppression  of  Vice  should  be  called  upon  to  close  the 
pool-rooms  in  Barclay  Street  and  at  No.  43  Broadway,  after 
the  captain  of  that  precinct  had  been  notified  to  close  them  and 
had  failed  so  to  do.  To  have  this  followed  by  the  descent 
upon  policy  headquarters  was  too  crushing.  But  it  has  taught 
the  police  a  lesson.  The  rebuke  is  righteous,  and  the  lesson 
much  needed. 

As  these  schemes  are  brought  to  light,  loud  expressions  of 
surprise  are  manifested  on  all  sides,  by  officials,  judges,  and 
others,  that  they  are  such  barefaced  swindles.  Formerly  these 
men  were  let  off  with  fines.  In  October,  1880,  twenty-nine 
of  these  criminals  received  sentences  in  General  Sessions  Courts, 
amounting  in  the  sum  total  to  $202. 50.  When  the  evil  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  our  excellent  judges,  Rufus  B. 
Cowing  and  Recorder  Smythe,  they  applied  imprisonment  as 
well  as  fine  to  the  criminals,  and  the  result  has  been  most 
salutary. 

The  practice  of  respectable  citizens  interfering  to  thwart  the 
ends  of  justice  is  most  reprehensible,  and  destructive  to  the  best 
interests  of  the  community.  It  is  no  uncommon  thing  to  have 
men  go  to  a  judge  with  a  long  story  to  secure  a  suspension  of 
sentence  for  one  of  these  offenders.  They  deceive  the  magis- 
trate, and  he,  acting  on  what  he  feels  are  facts,  allows  men  to 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  87 

escape  with  a  light  penalty,  who,  if  they  had  their  deserts,  would 
get  the  full  extent  of  the  law.  By  this  means  crimes  are  en- 
couraged, other  criminals  continue  to  violate  the  law,  sustained 
by  the  fact  that  it  is  easy  to  get  off  if  one  only  has  influential 
friends  to  deceive  the  courts.  We  have  good  judges,  and  citi- 
zens ought  to  help  them  enforce  these  laws.  In  checking  these 
crimes  we  are  stifling  some  of  the  most  prolific  agencies  for 
breeding  criminals.  Thousands  of  youth  are  ruined  by  these 
seductive  schemes.  The  idea  of  "  sure  to  make  a  hit  some 
time"  takes  possession  of  the  player,  and  it  becomes  chronic, 
until  it  blinds  reason,  stunts  moral  perceptibilities,  deadens 
conscience,  and  finds  an  apology  for  dishonesty.  The  clerk 
steals,  but  argues  to  himself  that  he  will  just  "  borrow  it"  and 
return  it  out  of  his  prize.  The  "  borrowing"  just  to  try  one's 
luck,  is  rascally,  whether  applied  in  stock  speculations,  horse- 
racing,  or  policy  and  lottery  gambling.  Young  men,  take 
warning  ! 

Merchants  may  find  here  a  channel  where  goes  many  a  small 
article  of  merchandise  from  their  stock.  The  banker  and 
broker  can  here  find  their  postage-stamps,  stolen  by  office  boys  ; 
insurance  companies,  their  envelopes.  The  writer  has  often 
seized  envelopes  in  these  places  bearing  the  business  cards  of 
insurance  companies  and  mercantile  firms. 

The  following  cases  illustrate  the  fruitage. 

In  February  last  a  young  wife  with  a  babe  fourteen  months 
old  was  arrested,  brought  into  court,  and  pleaded  "  guilty"  to 
several  burglaries.  She  then  added  that  "  she  had  become 
infatuated  with  policy."  According  to  her  story,  she  had  once 
made  a  hit  of  fifteen  dollars  ;  since  then  she  had  been  crazed 
with  a  desire  to  gamble  in  this  manner ;  had  used  all  her 
husband's  money,  and  then  went  out  upon  these  burglarious 
expeditions  to  get  money  to  satisfy  this  passion  for  policy. 

The  same  month  a  mother  in  Washington  was  discovered 
investing  large  sums  in  these  devices,  in  the  vain  hope  of  secur- 
ing several  thousand  dollars  to  pay  off  a  mortgage  which  her 
son  had  upon  his  property  in  Chicago.  Maternal  love  blinded 


88  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

her  eyes,  while  deluded  she  followed  this  will-o'-the-wisp  proj- 
ect until  poverty  and  ruin  overtook  her. 

The  wife  of  a  laboring  man  in  New  York  came  into  my 
office  one  day  last  summer,  saying  she  had  lost  over  $800  in  a 
certain  shop  in  New  Chambers  Street  All  she  had  to  show  for 
this  was  a  few  policies  or  pieces  of  paper  with  her  plays  recorded 
on  them.  Though  a  laboring  man's  wife,  and  herself  obliged 
to  work,  she  had  spent  from  $2  to  $3  per  day.  After  having 
spent  about  seven  hundred  dollars,  which  she  had  saved  up  by 
years  of  toil  and  economy,  she  removed  to  Brooklyn  to  get  rid 
of  the  temptations  of  this  particular  place.  Just  here  I  may 
mention  that  she  had  no  desire  to  go  to  any  other  than  this  one 
place  to  play.  It  is  the  case,  in  very  many  instances  brought  to 
my  notice,  that  players  who  are  driven  almost  to  desperation 
continue  to  play  in  the  same  place  ;  and  often  they  appeal  to 
me  to  close  that  particular  place  to  save  them,  saying,  "  I  have 
no  desire  to  go  into  any  other  place,  but  I  cannot  pass  that  door 
without  going  in  to  play."  So  with  this  poor,  half-crazed 
woman.  She  said,  ' '  If  you  will  only  close  this  place  you  will 
save  me  ;  otherwise  I  shall  be  driven  to  desperation. ' '  I  went 
with  her  to  this  den,  and,  taking  her  plays  which  she  placed  in 
my  hands,  I  interviewed  the  proprietor.  Said  he  at  once,  fearing 
trouble,  "  I  am  willing  to  pay  this  woman  back  her  money  on 
those  plays. ' '  I  then  showed  him  the  plays,  and  he  figured  up 
about  $17  as  the  amount  he  had  received  on  about  half  a  dozen 
plays.  After  he  had  thus  virtually  confessed  his  guilt,  I 
informed  him  that  it  was  not  the  money  but  his  body  I  was 
after.  I  then  arrested  him,  and  took  him  to  the  Tombs  Police 
Court,  where  he  was  held  to  answer  in  default  of  $1000  bail. 

In  one  place  which  I  was  raiding,  a  little  boy,  scarcely  able 
to  speak  plainly,  came  toddling  into  the  saloon,  and  standing 
in  front  of  the  counter,  reached  his  little  hands  up  to  the  edge 
of  it,  holding  in  one  a  paper  containing  a  play  and  money  to 
pay  for  the  same,  for  his  mother,  and  in  the  other  another  for 
his  father.  Thus  this  infant  was  brought  into  contact  with  this 
vicious  practice  before  he  could  say  the  alphabet.  These 


GAMBLING   TRAPS.  89 

parents  will  mourn  if  in  future  years  this  child  shall  be  brought 
to  State  Prison  or  the  gallows.  If  he  should,  they  will  have 
no  one  but  themselves  to  thank,  for  they  have  done  all  in  their 
power  to  start  him  on  the  downward  course  at  the  threshold 
of  life.  They  sowed  the  seed,  and  he  will  reap  the  harvest.  I 
sent  for  the  mother.  She  came,  and  when  she  discovered  the 
presence  of  officers,  tried  to  make  her  child  say  he  received  the 
plays  and  money  from  some  other  person,  notsvithstanding  the 
fact  that  she  at  first  confessed,  before  coming  to  the  policy  den, 
that  she  had  sent  him. 

This  scheme  prospers  because  it  is  regarded  partly  as  an 
innocent  pastime  for  those  who  can  afford  to  waste  time  and 
money,  and  because  it  is  equally  simple  to  bet  a  few  pennies 
that  a  certain  number  will  be  drawn.  The  player  is  apt  to 
think  that  his  chance  of  making  a  hit  is  as  good  as  any  other 
person's,  and  if  he  should  win  there's  nobody  injured  ; 
especially  since,  as  the  pool  is  made  up  of  small  sums,  this  loss 
will  not  be  felt  by  the  players. 

It  is  because  the  thing  seems  so  very  simple  that  it  is  so  very 
seductive.  This  accounts  for  its  being  so  widespread.  It 
teaches  young  men  to  take  the  dollar  of  another  without  earn- 
ing it.  It  breeds  a  spirit  of  feverish  speculation,  and  it  puts 
forth  a  bold  front,  by  means  of  the  printed  slip  sent  out  twice 
each  day,  concealing  the  secret  manipulations  of  fraud. 

Before  leaving  this  species  of  gambling,  let  a  moment' s  con- 
sideration be  given  to 

Mercantile  Gambling,  or  Merchant  Lotteries. 

It  seems  as  though  every  branch  of  trade  had  a  lottery  of  its 
own,  and  that  healthful  competition  in  trade  must  now  contend, 
not  against  honest  and  honorable  rivals,  but  against  some 
scheme  of  "  prizes"  or  "  gifts  by  chance."  In  each  and  every 
instance  the  same  principles  are  employed  as  in  a  regular  lot- 
tery. It  is  gambling,  and  caters  to  the  spirit  of  gaming.  One 
firm  deems  it  necessary,  in  order  to  sell  their  wares,  which  are 
often  of  inferior  quality,  to  offer  extra  inducements.  They 


po  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

desire  to  sell  their  inferior  goods  at  the  highest  market  price 
which  the  first  quality  of  the  same  articles  brings.  On  their 
merits  they  cannot  command  such  a  price.  They  desire  to 
make  an  extra  profit  on  their  adulterated  or  second,  third,  or 
fourth  quality  merchandise.  How  can  this  be  done  success- 
fully ?  They  must  advertise  largely  and  "loudly."  Printer's 
ink  must  lie  for  them.  Many  men  of  this  stamp  are  much  like 
the  old  Quaker  whose  hat  blew  off  one  very  windy  day,  and 
who,  running  after  it,  failed  to  secure  it,  until  he  met  a  small 
boy,  to  whom  he  said,  ' '  Boy,  do  thee  swear  ?' '  The  boy 
answering  in  the  affirmative,  the  Quaker  handed  him  fifty  cents, 
saying,  "  Give  me  fifty  cents'  worth  at  that  hat."  So,  many  of 
these  respectable  (?)  concerns  will  hold  up  their  hands  in  holy 
horror  at  the  suggestion  that  they  would  lie  or  deceive,  and  yet 
will  pay  an  advertising  agent  liberally  to  publish  the  greatest 
exaggerations  as  to  the  character  and  quality  of  their  goods. 
They  will  denounce  gambling  as  very  demoralizing,  and  yet 
will  adopt  the  very  same  spirit,  and  endeavor  to  evade  the  law 
by  a  cunningly  worded  advertisement.  These  schemes  are  all 
subject  to  suspicion  of  the  gravest  character.  Fraud  and  deceit 
are  their  basis.  The  writer  has  investigated  many  of  these 
schemes,  and  has  never  failed  to  find  that  either  there  is  an  out- 
and-out  unlawful  device,  or  else  one  that  is  the  merest  evasion 
of  the  law,  and  based  on  fraudulent  practice — something  to 
induce  purchases  by  deceiving  the  public. 

To  advertise  an  inferior  quality  of  goods  as  ' '  superior  to  the 
best  brands  in  the  market' '  is  downright  rascality.  But  to  add 
to  this  the  seductions  of  lottery  gambling,  is  baser  still. 

One  man  has  a  certain  brand  of  tobacco.  To  induce  large 
sales  he  advertises  a  certain  list  of  prizes,  tickets  for  which  are 
in  every  box  of  a  quarter  gross  of  papers  of  tobacco. 

The  practice  of  one  concern  was  to  print  a  long  list  of  num- 
bers as  those  which  would  be  sure  to  draw  prizes.  These  were 
posted  up  and  scattered  throughout  the  country.  The  pur- 
chasers of  this  brand  of  tobacco  will  be  interested  to  know  that 
when  we  got  down  to  bottom  facts  we  discovered  that  there 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  91 

was  not  a  single  number  of  those  printed  on  the  list  packed  in 
the  tobacco.  The  lowest  number  packed  was  75,001,  and  the 
highest  number  on  the  printed  list  was  75,000. 

Of  another  concern  that  advertised  "gold  coin"  as  packed 
in  their  tobacco,  the  writer  purchased  a  box  to  ascertain  the 
amount  of  gold  coin  given  out  in  a  quarter  gross  of  papers,  and 
found  one  five-cent  silver  coin,  but  no  gold. 

Another  concern  which  had  an  inferior  quality  of  tobacco  has 
endeavored  for  months  to  force  sales  for  their  brand  by  offer- 
ing these  extra  inducements  in  the  shape  of  tickets  for  money, 
and  lastly  tickets  offering  different  amounts  of  tobacco  to  the 
holder  of  prize  tickets.  But  it  is  not  the  fraud  and  cheat  for 
which  I  arraign  these  criminal  practices  in  the  tobacco  trade. 
Instead,  it  is  the  unusual  inducements  thus  offered  to  young 
men  and  boys  to  buy  and  use  tobacco,  without  which  many 
would  not  think  of  purchasing  the  poisonous  weed.  To 
poison  the  systems  of  thousands  of  youth  throughout  the  land 
in  order  that  a  few  men  may  roll  up  fortunes  for  themselves, 
presents  a  question  of  ethics  that  many  men  in  the  tobacco 
trade  most  earnestly  condemn.  It  not  only  kindles  a  spirit  of 
gambling,  but  leads  to  the  filthy  yet  prevalent  habit  of  tobacco- 
chewing  in  the  young.  It's  only  another  trap  of  Satan,  set 
to  catch  young  men  and  drag  them  down  to  ruin  and 
shame — a  device  that  leads  to  the  defilement  of  the  body ;  a 
destruction  of  nerve  and  tissue  that  weakens  the  victim's  powers 
to  resist  evil,  and  renders  easy  the  habit  of  intemperance.  The 
mouth  and  throat  that  are  tanned  by  nicotine  require  something 
stronger  than  water  to  tickle  the  palate.  They  crave  something 
sharp  and  keen,  and  are  thus  prepared  to  respond  readily  to  the 
sparkling  allurements  of  decanter  and  goblet. 

This  practice  is  on  a  par  with  certain  manufacturers  of  ciga- 
rettes, who,  in  order  to  fix  more  forcibly  a  taste  and  habit  upon 
their  patrons,  to  fasten  upon  the  youthful  smoker  the  uncontrol- 
lable practice  of  smoking,  put  opium  in  their  cigarettes.  More 
than  once  have  I  been  appealed  to,  to  suppress  this  accursed 
practice.  It  seems  as  if  Satan  hems  in  our  youth  in  all  direc- 


92  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

tions.  Tastes  and  appetites  are  perverted,  evil  habits  are  formed, 
vicious  and  fifthy  practices  encouraged,  and  death  and  destruc- 
tion escort  our  youth  on  every  side.  That  human  beings  can 
sink  so  low  seems  aknost  incomprehensible.  Such  as  these 
call  themselves  smart,  and  if  they  make  money  by  such  villain- 
ous practices  they  are  considered  by  the  public  as  successful 
business  men.  Let  the  toper  and  bloated  bartender  saturate 
their  systems  by  the  filthy  practice  of  chewing  and  drinking, 
but  let  not  the  sweet  breath  of  childhood  be  tainted  and  ren- 
dered offensive  to  decency  by  it.  Let  the  tobacco  chewer  and 
smoker  have  their  own  way,  and  allow  them  the  privilege  of 
making  themselves  a  nuisance  on  the  sidewalks,  and  in  all  public 
and  many  private  places  ;  give  grown-up  loafers  the  right  to 
puff  the  smoke  from  cigars  made  of  cabbage  and  other  unknown 
leaves  rolled  up  by  dirty  hands,  and  stuck  together  by  the  spittle 
from  the  tongues  of  those  who  make  them  ;  but  when  Satan's 
claws  are  as  plainly  seen  as  in  the  foregoing  practices,  let  not 
men,  or  those  calling  themselves  men,  sit  indifferent  and  per- 
mit him  to  strike  his  sharp  nails  into  the  vitals  of  our  children. 
These  men  have  gone  far  enough.  It  is  time  now  to  command 
halt! 

One  cannot  be  too  thankful  that  a  kind  Providence  has  given 
him  a  system  and  nature  which  revolt  against  the  contact  and 
taste  of  tobacco  or  liquors.  As  he  passes  along  the  streets  and 
sees  the  full-grown  mendicant  follow  smokers  to  pick  up  the 
butt  of  their  cigar  when  they  shall  throw  it  into  the  gutter  ; 
or  sees  the  bootblack  and  newsboy  hang  around  a  crowd  of 
corner-loafers  for  the  sake  of  getting  the  stumps  of  cheap  cigars 
they  chew  up  and  then  throw  away  ;  or  sees  the  beggar  come 
along  and  examine  ash-barrels  and  spittoons  for  the  sake  of  the 
bits  of  cigars  they  can  find  there  ;  or  when  he  stands  on  a 
ferry-boat  or  horse-car  and  has  some  unmannered  and  selfish 
smoker  draw  the  air  he  has  to  breathe  down  into  his  throat 
and  lungs,  through  a  nasty  cigar,  a  foul  pipe,  or  worse  ciga- 
rette, and  then,  polluted  and  poisoned,  puff  it  out  for  those 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  93 

about  him  to  breathe — he  is  not  strongly  induced  to  take  up  the 
very  fashionable  practice. 

I  am  aware  that  many  good  men  smoke  and  chew,  and  defend 
the  practice  ;  and  yet  to  them  as  well  as  to  all  others  I  make  an 
appeal  to  keep  the  children  and  youth  clean,  and  not  to  poison 
their  systems,  nor  defile  their  breath  with  tobacco  in  any  form. 
It  is  a  nasty  habit  at  the  best,  and  is  injurious  to  mind  and 
body. 

Keep  our  youth  clean. 

An  item  appeared  a  few  days  ago  of  especial  interest  to  the 
consequential  strut,  who  on  all  occasions  claims  the  right  to 
puff  cigarette  smoke  into  the  faces  of  defenceless  women  and 
refined  men. 

A  little  Italian  girl  was  arrested  in  New  York  and  taken  to 
the  Tombs  Police  Court  for  gathering  up  cigar-stumps  from 
the  gutters,  ash-barrels,  and  spittoons  at  hotels  and  barrooms. 
She  had  about  a  thousand  in  her  basket.  She  was  greatly 
delighted  at  the  quantity  which  she  had  been  able  to  gather  up. 
When  asked  what  she  did  with  them,  she  said  she  or  her  parents 
sold  them  to  cigarette  manufacturers  to  make  cigarettes  with. 
Ough  ! 

Not  only  are  our  boys  subject  to  the  force  of  example  from 
professional  tobacco  chewers  and  smokers,  but  they  are  also 
seduced  by  the  gambling  inducements  of  the  manufacturers. 
It  would  almost  seem  as  though  the  tobacco  men  and  pub- 
lishers of  "  half  dime"  literature  were  in  league  together. 
These  stories,  many  of  them,  contain  constant  allusions  to  the 
use  of  tobacco,  beer,  and  liquor.  It  would  be  a  queer  hero 
that  could  not  chew,  smoke,  and  drink,  to  excel  any  one  else 
mentioned  in  the  story.  In  stories  about  detectives,  you  will 
find  at  all  conferences,  and  whenever  the  hero  entertains  his 
friends,  choicest  wines  and  liquors  are  brought  out,  while  they 
lay  back  in  their  chairs,  feet  upon  the  mantel  or  table,  while 
the  blue  smoke  curls  above  their  heads  as  it  is  puffed  out  of 
their  mouths  in  fantastic  forms.  These  are  not  imaginary  evils. 


94  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

They  are  easily  discerned  by  any  thoughtful  observer.  Why 
should  our  young  men  run  riot  in  all  the  vicious  tendencies  of 
the  day  ? 

Another  device  may  be  called  kitchen  lotteries,  or 

Soap  Lotteries. 

This  seems  a  queer  mixture.  To  say  the  least,  it  is  rather  a 
slippery  business.  The  managers  of  these  lotteries,  in  a  vain 
attempt  to  evade  the  laws,  call  their  prizes  ' '  rewards, "  "  pres- 
ents," etc. 

All  are  particular  to  announce  that  they  do  not  sell  their  tick- 
ets, that  ' '  tickets  do  not  cost  you  anything, ' '  and  then  in  the 
same  advertisement  say,  ' '  Twenty  wrappers,  one  ticket  One 
hundred  wrappers,  six  tickets.  Every  ticket  an  even  chance.1' 

In  a  word,  the  plan  is,  in  order  to  induce  people  to  buy  their 
soap,  to  take  advantage  of  the  gambling  propensities  of  the  day, 
and  to  advertise  a  lottery  or  game  of  chance  in  connection  with 
the  soap  business.  They  wrap  each  cake  of  soap  with  a  printed 
wrapper.  A  return  of  these  wrappers  enables  them  to  use  them 
again  and  again  and  thus  save  the  expense  of  printing  the 
same.  For  twenty  wrappers  thus  brought  back  they  trade  a 
ticket  bearing  a  number,  and  this  number  represents  a  share  or 
interest  in  a  "  distribution  of  presents"  at  some  future  date. 

Two  of  these  concerns,  before  being  arrested,  announced 
through  their  agents  that  there  would  be  a  "  regular  drawing" 
on  a  certain  date,  and  these  tickets  represented  an  even  chance 
in  the  list  of  prizes  offered.  These  prizes  consisted  of  one 
brown-stone  front  house,  $1500  in  gold,  horses  and  wagons, 
etc. 

If  there  is  a  drawing,  and  if  the  tickets  represent,  as  they 
advertise  them  to  do,  an  "  even  chance,"  then  it  is  a  lottery. 
If  there  is  no  drawing  (and  they  now  claim,  since  arrest,  that 
there  is  to  be  none),  then  the  pretence  of  an  "  even  chance"  to 
ever}'  ticket  is  a  fraud,  and  the  attempt  to  make  people  believe 
that,  if  they  will  use  their  particular  soap,  they  will  stand  a 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  95 

fair  chance  of  securing  one  of  the  ' '  prizes, "  "  rewards, ' '  or 
"  presents"  offered,  is  misleading,  and  is  to  be  viewed  with  the 
same  suspicions  as  any  other  gambling  scheme. 

Practically  these  schemes  are  sops  thrown  to  servant-girls,  to 
encourage  extravagance  and  dishonesty.  Every  housekeeper 
knows  by  bitter  experience,  in  many  cases,  that  the  ordinary 
servant  of  the  present  day  requires  no  inducement  to  extrava- 
gance, nor  incentive  to  dishonesty.  There  are  waste  and  pecu- 
lations enough  in  the  kitchen  without  offering  "  presents," 
' '  rewards, "  or  ' '  prizes' '  for  an  increase  in  this  line.  There 
are  enough  supplies  passed  out  to  poor  relations  to  satisfy  every 
housekeeper,  as  it  is,  and  there  is  no  necessity  of  a  chromo  or 
prize  in  this  department.  These  devices  practically  say  to 
Biddy,  ' '  The  more  soap  used,  wasted,  or  otherwise  disposed  of, 
of  this  kind,  the  more  tickets  in  the  distribution." 

Do  thinking  men  and  women  want  a  lottery  started  in  their 
kitchen  ? 

Another  device  suppressed  by  the  New  York  Society  for  the 
Suppression  of  Vice  was  being  conducted  in  Brooklyn,  where 
a  hatter  gave  out  tickets  offering  prizes  to  be  drawn  in  a  lottery 
to  every  customer  who  purchased  to  the  amount  of  $2. 50  at  a 
time.  Aside  from  the  pernicious  influences  flowing  from  these 
schemes  in  spreading  the  spirit  of  gambling,  they  are  in  direct 
violation  of  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
where  they  existed  until  suppressed. 

To  allow  the  Constitution  and  laws  of  a  State  to  be  violated 
by  any  device,  much  less  by  a  crime-breeding  pestilence,  is 
establishing  a  dangerous  precedent.  II  these  laws  may  be  vio- 
lated with  impunity,  why  not  the  laws  against  murder,  arson, 
highway  robbery,  and  the  like  ? 

The  people  cannot  afford  to  permit  such  an  outrage.  It  is 
an  entering  wedge  which  will  in  time  jeopard  the  highest  inter- 
ests of  the  commonwealth. 

Let  every  patriot  insist  that  these  laws  be  respected  and 
obeyed. 


96  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

Prize-candy  Traps. 

But,  lest  children  shall  be  let  off  too  easy,  and  to  block 
up  more  effectually  every  avenue  of  escape,  we  have  another 
devil-trap  for  even  the  little  wee  ones.  These  traps  may  be 
discovered  in  confectionery  stores  which  keep  open  on  Sunday, 
or  where  prize  chewing-gum  and  prize  packages  of  candy  are 
sold,  and  candy  lotteries  are  run. 

The  first  overtakes  the  child  on  its  way,  on  God's  holy 
Sabbath  day,  to  Sunday-school.  Any  person  who  has  ob- 
served these  matters  must  have  been  struck  with  the  num- 
bers of  little  ones  who  throng  into  candy  stores  before  and  while 
going  to  Sunday-school.  Few  children,  comparatively,  enter 
on  their  return.  It  is  when  their  faces  are  turned  away  from 
home  and  its  hallowed  influences,  toward  the  sacred  precincts 
of  God's  house,  to  be  trained  up  in  wisdom  and  grace,  that 
the  evil  one  overtakes  them  and  makes  a  bid  for  them.  By 
the  open  door  an  example  of  violation  of  the  Fourth  Com- 
mandment is  set  before  them.  By  displaying  for  sale  sweets 
which  appeal  to  the  palate  of  the  child,  a  bid  is  made  for  dis- 
honesty and  deceit.  The  pennies  placed  in  the  tiny  hand  of 
the  child  for  the  missionary  or  other  good  cause,  are  thus  easily 
secured,  and  the  child,  with  its  back  toward  home,  says, 
"  Nobody  will  know,"  and,  tempted  by  the  delicious  flavors  so 
sweet  to  the  taste,  dishonesty  is  encouraged  and  swiftly  follows. 
Instead  of  benefiting  the  charity  which  the  parent  desired  to 
help,  in  addition  to  inculcating  habits  of  cheerful  giving  and 
helping  others,  the  lesson  is  lost  upon  the  child — supplanted 
by  habits  which  lay  the  foundation  for  future  sin  and  suffering. 

So  too  with  prize  packages,  penny-gifts,  and  envelope  games 
allowed  in  some  confectionery  stores  :  they  are  the  primary 
department  of  gambling.  The  tottling  prattler  who  clings  to 
his  or  her  parent's  knees  and  says,  "  Penny  ;  please  give 
baby  penny,"  receives  an  answer  to  her  earnest  little  prayer,  and 
runs  to  one  of  these  places  and  buys  candy  and  comes  back 
with  a  worthless  trinket  in  addition  to  the  candy.  This  prac- 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  97 

tice  is  unhealthful  and  injurious.  Perhaps  at  first  the  baby  can- 
not understand  ;  but  this  practice  kept  up,  its  influence  is  soon 
felt  until  anything  that  has  "  prize"  attached  to  it  awakens  a 
strong  desire  to  fathom  the  hidden  mystery.  By  such  means 
as  this,  too,  there  is  a  rivalry  awakened  among  school  children 
as  to  who  shall  draw  the  largest  prize.  Some  of  these  places 
sell  five  cents'  worth  of  candy  or  a  glass  of  root  beer,  and  then 
have  a  box  of  envelopes  with  numbers  in  them,  which  the  child 
is  allowed  to  draw  from,  and  if  the  number  is  lucky  he  gets  a 
prize  of  some  kind.  In  watching  the  eager  look,  the  passing  of 
the  hand  from  one  end  of  the  box  to  the  other,  hesitating  to 
draw,  wondering  which  the  one  that  shall  draw  the  biggest  prize 
is,  etc.,  of  groups  of  children  in  these  places,  one  can  see  all  the 
symptoms  of  gambling. 

"  Whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 

Many  deplore  that  the  Sabbath  is  desecrated,  and  yet  few 
think  that  it  is  their  business  to  check  it. 

During  the  recent  September  storm  it  is  reported  that  the 
citizens  of  Newark  and  Jersey  City  were  anxious  and  troubled 
because  about  a  ton  of  arsenic  had  been  swept  by  the  flood 
from  a  factory  into  one  of  the  tributaries  of  the  Passaic  River, 
from  which  the  water  supply  of  these  cities  comes.  Water  was 
filtered  and  boiled  and  allowed  to  be  cooled  before  being  used 
in  many  families,  for  fear  of  poison. 

Why  is  it  that  so  many  are  aroused  by  physical  danger,  and 
yet  are  dead  to  the  encroachments  of  moral  evils  ? 

The  devil  always  has  the  best  time  when  he  can  lull  the  con- 
science of  Christian  men  and  women  to  sleep.  The  fowler 
knows  that  if  the  parent  bird  is  absent  or  asleep,  the  young 
chicks  are  more  easily  secured.  So  it  is  in  the  moral  world. 
If  parents  will  only  be  occupied  with  other  business,  so  as  to  be 
indifferent  to  what  the  evil  one  is  doing  with  the  children,  the 
easier  the  ruin  and  the  larger  the  number  bagged  by  this  infer- 
nal sportsman. 

Follow  the  example  of  our  neighbors  across  the  river,  and 
filter  and  discard  from  patronage  all  places  that  keep  open  to 


98  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

entrap  our  children  on  Sunday.  Let  all  Sunday-school  teachers 
and  every  earnest  man  and  woman  mark  the  stores  that  open 
on  Sunday,  and  for  principle's  sake  "  boycott"  them. 

The  morals  of  the  children  first,  the  confectioner's  pocket 
afterward 


CHAPTER  VII. 

GAMBLING    TRAPS    (CONTINUED). 

Pool. 

THERE  are  two  kinds  of  pool  gambling — to  wit,  horse  and 
billiard  pool. 

Each  possesses  all  the  unhealthful  excitement  of  any  other 
gambling.  The  former,  like  "policy"  and  lottery,  offers  for- 
tunes for  very  small  sums — sums  varying  from  ' '  fifty  cents 
upward. ' ' 

Pool-tickets  are  bets  that  a  certain  horse  will  win  in  a  certain 
race  with  other  horses,  on  some  race-course. 

Pool-rooms  are  substitutes  for  the  race-course,  and  bring  the 
betting  and  gambling  which  attend  horse-racing  from  the  race- 
track to  the  doors  of  mercantile  houses,  so  that  clerks  who 
cannot  get  away  from  business  may  have  the  opportunity  to 
gamble  brought  to  them.  They  bring  the  demoralizations  of 
the  race-course  into  the  circles  of  business,  thus  setting  another 
devil-trap  for  young  men  in  the  walks  of  daily  life. 

All  the  false  and  glittering  promises  of  other  gambling  devices 
appear  in  pool.  It  is  subject  to  the  same  tricks  to  deceive, 
and  capable  of  all  the  secret  manipulations  and  frauds  of  other 
robbery  schemes.  It  is  conscienceless,  heartless,  and  infamous. 
It  makes  embezzlers,  defaulters,  and  thieves  in  every  grade  of 
society.  It  is  more  fatal  to  the  morals  of  youth  than  faro, 
roulette,  or  other  banking-games,  because  it  seems  to  offer 
greater  inducements  for  comparatively  small  sums,  promising 
a  prompt  return  to  the  venture.  It  gathers  its  players  by  hun- 
dreds. It  does  business  with  open  doors,  in  defiance  of  law,  as 
witness  the  four  dens  formerly  run  in  Long  Island  City. 


100  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

The  odor  of  bribery  of  officials — blackmail  for  protection — 
follows  these  schemes  wherever  they  appear. 

No  matter  how  many  youth  are  ruined,  merchants  robbed, 
mothers'  hearts  crushed,  wives  dragged  down  to  poverty,  or 
families  wrecked,  if  only  the  gamblers  become  rich  from  ill- 
gotten  gains. 

The  principal  pool-rooms  in  the  lower  part  of  New  York  City 
were  located  at  3  Barclay  Street  and  43  Broadway.  At  the 
former  place  "  The  Parole  Turf  Club"  had  existed  for  years, 
John  Hackett,  secretary  ;  at  the  latter  place,  the  ' '  Tattersalls 
Turf  Club,"  Dougall  McDougall,  secretary.  Both  of  these 
concerns  sailed  under  false  pretences.  They  each  had  what 
they  chose  to  call  a  constitution  and  by-laws. 

A  few  extracts  from  the  Tattersalls  Turf  Club  certificate  of  in- 
corporation will  illustrate  the  high  sense  of  honor  among  these 
gamblers,  who  place  on  record  an  act  of  incorporation  for  one 
thing,  and  then  do  a  business  foreign  to  it. 

In  this  peculiar  document,  dated  March  29,  1882,  they  say  : 

' '  The  particular  place  of  transacting  business  is  the  City  and 
County  of  New  York,  and  the  object  of  said  club  is  to  engage  in 
gymnastic,  athletic,  musical,  dramatic,  literary,  artistic,  yacht- 
ing, hunting,  fishing,  and  other  lawful  sports." 

The  facts  are,  the  office  of  this  club,  as  above  stated,  was 
occupied  for  the  sale  of  pool-tickets  on  horse-races.  The 
"  musical  "  part  of  the  club  was  called  into  play  for  about  the 
first  time  on  the  twenty-fourth  day  of  July,  1882,  when  they 
sounded  a  long,  low  whistle,  upon  learning  that  the  Parole 
Turf  Club,  which  had  continued  in  business  for  years  without 
serious  interference,  had  been  effectually  raided  by  the  writer, 
at  the  direction  of  District-Attorney  John  McKeon,  and  his 
assistant,  Henry  C.  Allen,  with  search-warrants  issued  by  his 
Honor,  Recorder  Smythe.  They  then  struck  a  "dramatic" 
attitude,  and  with  "artistic"  stride  put  in  operation  their 
"gymnastics,"  by  the  speedy  clearing  out  from  their  rooms 
their  patrons  and  "  members,"  while  the  "  athletes"  of  the 
club  bore  the  tickets  and  other  paraphernalia  for  gambling, 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  IOI 

up-stairs  to  an  unoccupied  room,  where  they  flattered  them- 
selves that  no  amount  of  "  hunting"  on  the  part  of  the  writer, 
should  he  pay  them  a  visit,  would  be  able  to  discover  them. 

It  is  a  good  rule,  and  one  any  successful  official  will  do  well 
to  follow,  "  always  to  secure  your  bait  before  going  a-fishing. " 
Suspecting  that  perhaps  we  had  secured  our  bait  and  might 
come  down  there  to  take  lessons  in  ' '  fishing' '  for  their  unlaw- 
ful apparatus,  the  secretary,  Dougall  McDougall,  and  his  coun- 
sel, Franklin  Bien,  betook  themselves  to  the  "  literary"  part  of 
the  club's  duty,  and  thought  to  frighten  off  the  agents  of  the 
Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice  by  getting  an  injunction 
order  from  Justice  Haight  of  the  Supreme  Court,  restraining 
the  writer  from  entering  their  gambling  hell  at  43  Broadway. 

To  illustrate  the  elastic  conscience  of  Mr.  McDougall,  and 
to  show  the  "  members"  how  much  his  oath  is  worth,  the 
following  affidavit  made  by  him  in  the  injunction  case  is  pre- 
sented, to  wit  : 

"NEW   YORK   SUPREME  COURT. 

"  TATTERSALLS  TURF  CLUB 

vs. 
ANTHONY  COMSTOCK. 

"  City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss. 

"  Dougall  McDougall,  being  duly  sworn,  says  that  at  the 
times  hereinafter  mentioned  the  plaintiff  was  and  still  is  a  cor- 
poration created  by  and  under  the  laws  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  That  deponent  is  the  secretary  of  the  plaintiff,  and  that 
said  club  was  organized  as  a  convenience  for  its  members. 
That  a  copy  of  the  certificate  of  incorporation  is  hereto  annexed, 
and  marked  exhibit  '  A.'  Deponent  further  says  that  the  by- 
laws of  the  plaintiff  provide  that  no  one  can  become  a  member 
of  the  said  corporation  unless  they  are  of  the  age  of  twenty-one 
years  and  upward,  and  also  that  any  member  of  the  said  plain- 
tiff may  deposit  with  the  secretary  of  the  plaintiff  a  sum  of 
money,  to  be  sent  to  the  agent  of  the  plaintiff  at  any  place  where 


102  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

any  race  or  trial  of  speed  and  endurance  of  man  and  beast  shall 
take  place,  to  be  by  said  agent  invested  on  such  trial  or  race  as 
may  be  directed  by  the  member  depositing  the  same,  and  all 
money  so  deposited  is  actually  forwarded  and  sent  to  said  agent 
as  directed  by  such  member,  and  no  charge  is  made  by  the 
plaintiff  for  so  doing,  it  being  done  simply  as  an  accommoda- 
tion to  the  members  of  the  plaintiff,  and  to  which  privilege 
they  are  entitled  as  members  of  said  plaintiff.  That  the  plain- 
tiff merely  acts  in  such  capacity  as  a  common  carrier,  but  for 
its  members  only,  and  in  no  way  keeps,  hires,  or  occupies  any 
room  or  rooms,  or  part  of  any  room  or  rooms,  with  apparatus 
or  paraphernalia  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  or  registering  bets 
or  wagers,  or  sells  for  money  pools  upon  the  result  of  trials  or 
contests  of  speed  of  horses,  etc.,  or  in  any  manner  or  way 
violates  the  provisions  of  Chapter  178  of  the  Laws  of  1877  of 
the  State  of  New  York.  That  the  defendant  is  not  now  and 
never  has  been  a  member  of  the  plaintiff,  and  is  entitled  to 
none  of  its  privileges. 

"  That  the  plaintiff's  organization  is  entirely  a  private  organi- 
zation, so  far  as  the  public  is  concerned.  That  the  public  are  at 
no  time  admitted  to  the  rooms  of  the  plaintiff,  and  are  at  no 
time  permitted  to  avail  themselves  of  the  privileges  thereof. 
That  no  betting  or  gambling  of  any  kind  is  permitted  in  the 
rooms  of  the  plaintiff,  and  none  has  ever  taken  place,  nor  would 
the  same  be  tolerated  therein.  That  the  plaintiff  is  not  a 
depository  for  hire  or  reward,  but  that  as  soon  as  members 
deposit  any  money  for  the  purposes  aforesaid,  the  whole  amount 
so  deposited  is  forwarded  to  the  agent  at  the  place  designated 
by  the  members,  without  any  deduction  whatsoever. 

"  That  the  plaintiff  is  supported  entirely  by  the  dues  annually 
paid  by  its  members,  and  not  otherwise.  And  this  deponent 
further  shows  that  this  defendant,  on  or  about  July  25th,  1882, 
threatened  (not  being  a  member  of  the  plaintiff,  nor  entitled  to 
the  privileges  of  membership,  and  not  entitled  to  enter  the 
premises  of  the  plaintiff,  or  any  part  thereof)  to  force  his  way 
into  the  premises  of  the  plaintiff,  and  with  force  of  arms  to 


GAMBLING   TRAPS.  103 

remove  the  members  of  the  plaintiff,  therefrom,  as  well  as  the 
property  of  the  plaintiff,  so  as  to  suppress  the  plaintiff  and 
destroy  its  organization,  and  interfere  with  its  lawful  manner 
and  way  of  transacting  its  business.  That  in  consequence  of 
such  threat,  made  by  the  defendant  as  aforesaid,  and  which 
deponent  believes  to  be  true,  the  plaintiff  has  been  compelled 
to  stop  its  business,  to  the  great  detriment  and  annoyance  of  its 
members,  many  of  whom  have  threatened  to  resign  unless  they 
were  accorded  the  privileges  to  which  they  were  entitled  under 
the  by-laws.  That  such  interference  would  be  unlawful,  and 
would  do  irreparable  injury  to  the  plaintiff.  That  such  inter- 
ference by  the  [defendant]  is  malicious  and  in  bad  faith,  as  a 
number  of  persons  applying  for  membership  have  been  rejected, 
among  which  deponent  is  informed  and  verily  believes  it  to  be 
true,  was  the  defendant,  or  some  of  the  friends  of  the  defendant. 
"  Wherefore  deponent  prays  that  an  injunction  may  issue 
restraining  the  defendant  from  interfering  with  the  plaintiff's 
business,  and  for  such  other  and  further  relief  as  may  be  just. 
No  previous  application  for  this  order  has  been  made. 

"  D.    McDoUGALL. 

"  Sworn  to  before  me  this  25th  day  of  July,  1882. 

"  WILLIAM  R.  ROSE, 
' '  Notary  Public,  New  York  County. ' ' 

As  soon  as  they  recovered  from  their  "  literary"  effort,  these 
athletic  gymnasts  sailed  around  to  the  office  of  the  Society  for 
the  Suppression  of  Vice,  to  discover  the  writer,  to  serve  the 
papers  upon  him.  Failing  to  find  me  in  my  office,  they 
"  cruised  "  around  the  City  Hall  Park,  and  at  last  "  hove  to" 
at  the  entrance  of  the  District  Attorney's  office,  and  as  I  came 
in  sight  struck  another  ' '  dramatic' '  attitude,  and  in  most  artis 
tic  style  sought  by  one  foul  stroke  to  prevent  my  ' '  fishing' ' 
expedition. 

But  they  counted  without  their  host.  I  had  secured  the  bait 
before  starting  on  this  "  fishing"  enterprise,  in  the  shape  of  good 
legal  evidence — where  four  different  persons,  none  of  them 


104  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

"  members,"  and  some  under  "  twenty-one  years  of  age,"  had 
gone  into  this  place  and  purchased  pool-tickets  ;  and  one  had 
won  a  small  sum  of  money,  which  had  been  paid  to  him  in  this 
place,  the  same  day  he  purchased  the  ticket  The  evidence 
had  been  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  District  Attorney.  The 
papers  were  promptly  drawn,  and  notwithstanding  the  combina- 
tion of  such  celebrated  artists,  fishermen,  sportsmen,  musicians, 
sailors,  and  literary  gymnasts,  my  assistants  went  there,  and 
found  nearly  half  a  million  of  pool-tickets,  besides  all  the  para- 
phernalia for  pool-gambling.  It  is  superfluous  to  say  there 
were  no  yachts,  dumb-bells,  Kehoe  clubs,  guns,  fishing  tackle, 
paintings,  books,  pianos,  organs — no,  not  even  a  jewsharp — 
nothing  but  the  apparatus  and  paraphernalia  for  pool-gambling. 
The  affidavit  of  Mr.  McDougall  is  rank  perjury,  and  he  knew 
it  when  he  signed  it,  if  he  did  sign  and  swear  to  it. 

It  so  happened  that  I  was  out  of  the  city  when  this  raid  was 
made  by  my  able  assistants,  aided  by  the  police.  The  next 
morning  I  happened  to  meet  the  counsel  above  named.  He 
was  very  anxious  to  know  my  counsel' s  address,  and  I  was 
given  to  understand  by  his  "  athletic"  appearance  that  I  was  to 
be  brought  up  with  a  ' '  round  turn' '  for  contempt  of  court. 
I  told  him  to  "  fire  away,"  that  I  wanted  his  client  for  perjury 
in  swearing  : 

' '  That  the  plaintiff  merely  acts  in  such  capacity  as  a  common 
carrier,  but  for  its  members  only,  and  in  no  way  keeps,  hires, 
or  occupies  any  room  or  rooms,  or  part  of  any  room  or  rooms, 
with  apparatus  or  paraphernalia  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  or 
registering  bets  or  wagers,  or  sells  for  money  pools,  upon  the 
result  of  trials  or  contests  of  speed  of  horses,  etc. 

"  That  the  plaintiff's  organization  is  entirely  a  private  or- 
ganization, so  far  as  the  public  are  concerned.  That  the  public 
are  at  no  time  admitted  to  the  rooms  of  the  plaintiff,  and  are  at 
no  time  permitted  to  avail  themselves  of  the  privileges  thereof. 
That  no  betting  or  gambling  of  any  kind  is  permitted  in  the 
rooms  of  the  plaintiff,  and  none  has  ever  taken  place,  nor  would 
the  same  be  tolerated  therein. 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  105 

In  face  of  this  affidavit  stands  the  fact  that  this  place  was  con- 
stantly open  for  pool-gambling,  and  the  blackboards  were  upon 
the  walls  for  registering  bets  and  wagers,  and  they  were  daily 
registered  whenever  there  were  horse-races  to  bet  upon.  The 
whole  affidavit,  following  the  above,  might  be  copied  as  a  tissue 
of  falsehoods.  But  my  object  is  to  show  enough  of  this  to  illus- 
trate the  unreliable  character  of  the  managers  of  these  schemes 
to  deceive  and  rob  the  people. 

In  about  two  hours  after  my  interview  with  Mr.  Bien,  he 
came  into  my  office  with  the  following,  which  speaks  for  itself : 

"  At  a  special  term  of  the  New  York  Supreme  Court,  held  at 
Chambers,  New  York  City,  this  28th  day  of  July,  1882, 
Present,  Hon.  ALBERT  HAIGHT,  Justice. 

TATTERSALLS  TURF  CLUB 

against 
ANTHONY  COMSTOCK. 

"  On  reading  and  filing  annexed  affidavit,  and  on  motion  of 
J.  Bien,  plaintiff's  attorney, 

' '  Ordered,  That  this  action  be  and  the  same  is  hereby  discon- 
tinued, without  costs,  and  the  injunction  heretofore  granted  is 
hereby  dissolved. 

' '  A  copy. 

[L.S.]  "  WILLIAM  A.   BUTLER,  Clerk." 

It  has  been  often  said,  ' '  The  fool  and  his  money  are  soon 
parted."  Is  it  not  especially  true  of  pool-gamblers — those  who 
put  money  into  the  hands  of  such  unscrupulous  men  and 
expect  to  make  a  fortune  from  such  investment  ? 

But  the  Parole  Club  had  a  natural  curiosity.  They  had  a 
constitution  and  by-laws.  They  too  only  sold  to  "  members," 
if  their  statements  are  to  be  believed. 

Article  I.  of  their  constitution  says  : 

"  Admission  to  the  club  shall  be  by  ballot,  which  may  be 
conducted  by  voting  papers,  or  in  such  other  mode  as  the  com- 


106  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

mittee  may  from  time  to  time  appoint.  .  .  .  The  committee 
may  determine  and  appoint  a  time  and  place  for  the  ballot,  and 
shall  give  notice  thereof  to  each  member  at  least  seven  days 
before  the  day  appointed. 

Here,  again,  were  false  pretences. 

How  did  the  public  get  into  this  place  by  hundreds  every 
day  ?  Did  the  committee  pass  upon  them  ?  No.  A  stranger, 
calling,  would  be  stopped  by  a  sleek-looking  fellow  and  asked 
for  a  ticket.  If  he  had  none,  he  would  be  obliged  to  pay  a 
dollar  for  a  piece  of  blue  or  pink  pasteboard,  containing  the 
following  words  : 

"PAROLE   TURF  CLUB. 

MEMBER'S  TICKET. 
"  (Not transferable,'}  JOHN  HACKETT,  Secretary." 

and  then  sign  the  "  curiosity,"  kept  in  their  office,  as  fol- 
lows : 

"  I  agree,  in  case  of  my  admission  as  a  member  of  the 
Parole  Turf  Club,  that  I  will  not  disclose  or  make  oath  to  any- 
thing I  see  or  do  in  the  rooms  of  said  club  ;  and  in  case  I 
violate  this  promise,  I  declare  myself  a  mischief-maker,  a  liar, 
and  a  scoundrel,  and  call  upon  all  persons,  judges,  and  jurors, 
to  discredit  my  statement,  to  consider  my  testimony  perjured, 
and  me  unworthy  of  belief. 

"  In  case  I  hold  any  position  in  the  Police  Department  of 
the  city  of  New  York,  or  am  a  spy,  informer,  or  detective,  and, 
to  obtain  admission,  conceal  that  fact,  I  forfeit  all  my  rights  as 
a  member  of  said  club  ;  and  my  entrance  into  the  rooms  I 
declare  to  be  a  wilful  and  malicious  trespass,  for  which  I  forfeit 
to  said  club  any  salary  due  me  as  such  policeman,  hereby 
assigning  my  claim  therefor  to  the  Parole  Turf  Club  ;  and  I 
agree  to  pay  to  said  club,  as  liquidated  damages  for  such  fraud 
and  trespass,  the  sum  of  $500,  including  the  pay  due  me  from 
the  city,  if  any,  for  each  and  every  such  trespass.  I  also  resign 


GAMBLING   TRAPS.  107 

my  office  or  position  in  the  Police  Department,  and  declare  the 
same  vacant  whenever  I  violate  my  pledge. 

JOHN  HACKETT,  Secretary, 
"  NEW  YORK,  January  27,  1882." 

On  the  24th  of  July,  1882,  armed  with  search-warrants,  with 
three  of  my  assistants  and  ten  policemen,  I  entered  this  place 
and  cleared  out  the  gambling  apparatus. 

We  found  the  first  floor  and  basement  occupied  for  the  sale 
of  pool-tickets.  The  rooms  were  about  twenty-five  by  sixty 
feet,  and  on  three  sides  of  each  floor  were  desks,  counters,  and 
blackboards,  for  selling  and  registering  bets  and  wagers  on 
horse-races.  There  were  about  twelve  regular  employes  in  this 
place,  that  could  be  seen  actively  engaging  in  the  business.  At 
the  door  were  two  men,  one  to  examine  the  tickets  and  the 
other  to  sell  the  pieces  of  pasteboard  called  tickets.  If  a 
stranger  called,  his  ticket  of  membership,  as  they  called  it, 
would  be  asked  for.  If  he  had  none  he  would  be  required  to 
purchase  one,  and  then  to  sign  the  "  ironclad  obligation."  The 
board  of  members  were  not  called  together  to  vote  according  to 
the  constitution,  but  the  "  almighty  dollar"  was  all  that  was 
required.  This  was  a  good  income  of  itself,  as  there  were 
about  2300  names  on  the  roll.  The  secretary's  office  was  in 
the  right-hand  front  corner  on  the  first  floor.  Diagonally  across 
the  room  at  the  rear  was  the  cashier's  office,  and  opposite  that 
they  had,  boxed  up  in  a  private  office,  a  Western  Union  Tele- 
graph Company's  wire  and  an  operator.  On  this  wire  hangs  a 
tale.  Here  we  may  look  for  trick  and  fraud.  Suppose  a  large 
pool  has  been  sold.  The  pool  consists  of  all  the  tickets  sold 
or  bets  made  upon  all  the  horses  in  the  race.  These  amounts 
are  distributed  among  the  holders  of  tickets  on  the  winning  horse. 
In  addition  to  the  regular  employes  there  are  supposed  to  be  a 
number  of  ' '  dummies' '  or  "  heelers. ' '  These  are  expected  to 
do  the  manager's  bidding.  If  after  the  despatch  comes  the 
manager  wants  to  make  a  sure  profit,  he  has  but  to  instruct  one 
of  these  "  dummies"  to  purchase  a  number  of  pools  on  the 


I08  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

winning  horse,  delaying  the  announcement  until  these  tickets 
are  secured.  Then  the  name  of  the  winning  horse  is  posted 
on  the  blackboard  and  the  successful  players  take  their  tickets 
to  the  cashier  for  payment,  less  a  certain  commission  to  be 
deducted  from  each  amount. 

Now,  why  is  it  necessary  to  have  a  telegraph  wire  for  their 
exclusive  use  ?  What  legitimate  business  can  afford  one  ? 

More  definite  information  concerning  this  subject  is  given  by 
the  New  York  Tribune,  August  zict,  1882,  in  an  article 
entitled  "  Swindling  the  Pool-Sellers,"  from  which  I  make  the 
following  extract : 

"  An  attempt  to  secure  the  results  of  the  Saratoga  races  at 
Hunter's  Point  in  season  to  buy  pools  on  a  certainty  has  been 
cleverly  nipped  in  the  bud  by  the  manager  and  chief  operator 
of  the  Western  Union  Telegraph  Company.  On  Thursday  the 
chief  operator  and  manager  of  the  Mutual  Company  suspected 
that  something  was  wrong.  The  suspicion  was  reported  to  A. 
S.  Brown,  the  superintendent  of  the  Mutual  Company,  and  a 
searching  investigation  was  begun.  On  Friday  the  whole 
scheme  was  brought  to  light.  R.  S.  Keith,  assistant  chief 
operator  of  the  Mutual  Union  Company,  was  found  to  have 
been  implicated  in  the  plan  to  defraud  the  company,  and  evi- 
dence was  brought  home  to  him  with  such  clearness  that  he 
confessed  everything.  Mr.  Keith  offered  to  do  all  he  could  to 
help  to  right  the  wrong.  The  plan  of  the  sharpers  was  to  secure 
such  a  connection  with  Hunter's  Point  that  the  reports  from 
Saratoga,  or  any  other  place  where  racing  was  going  on,  could 
be  telegraphed  from  this  city  ten  or  fifteen  minutes  before  tele- 
grams sent  by  usual  channels  could  be  received.  This  enabled 
those  in  the  swindles  to  buy  pools  and  do  their  betting  on  races 
the  result  of  which  they  knew.  The  manager  of  the  Mutual 
Union  Company  stated  to  a  Tribune  reporter  yesterday  that 
there  was  nothing  irregular  about  the  telegrams  or  connections 
between  Saratoga  and  this  city.  The  fraud  was  between  here 
and  Hunter's  Point. 

"  The  manner  in  which  the  connections  were  accomplished 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  109 

was  described  to  a  Tribune  reporter  by  the  manager  as  fol- 
lows : 

' '  The  company  has  bought  a  considerable  portion  of  its 
apparatus  from  J.  H.  Longstreet,  at  No.  9  Barclay  Street,  and 
the  wires  of  the  company  run  into  that  office,  and  afterward  up 
to  and  past  Fifty-fourth  Street.  One  of  the  wires  is  what  is 
known  as  a  '  dead  '  line — that  is,  one  that  is  not  in  active  use. 
The  schemers  cut  this  wire  near  the  Barclay  Street  office,  and 
made  a  connection  with  it  by  means  of  a  fine  magnet  wire,  at 
Fifty-fourth  Street.  The  wire  was  again  cut,  and  another  con- 
nection was  made,  this  time  with  a  '  dead  '  wire  of  the  Rapid 
Telegraph  Company  which  crossed  the  East  River.  On  the 
Long  Island  side  of  the  river  a  dead  wire  belonging  to  the 
Police  Department  completed  the  line  to  a  point  convenient  to 
the  pool-rooms.  The  work  was  completed  on  Wednesday, 
and  it  was  discovered  on  Friday,  consequently  it  is  believed 
that  the  swindlers  profited  very  slightly  by  their  scheme." 

The  following,  from  the  Telegram,  may  throw  some  light  on 
the  uses  of  this  private  wire.  It  says  : 

"  'How  Victims  are  Robbed.  You  say  that  the  proprietors  of 
the  Barclay  Street  pool-hells  rob  their  victims.  Will  you  ex- 
plain how  this  is  done  ? ' 

"  In  this  manner  :  Each  of  them  has  a  telegraph  wire  and  an 
operator  at  the  back  of  his  pool-room,  out  of  sight.  When  the 
despatch  saying  that  the  horses  are  at  the  post  arrives,  this  intel- 
ligence is  held  back  until  the  name  of  the  winner  is  received. 
A  gang  belonging  to  the  house  is  immediately  notified,  and 
they  quietly  put  money  on  the  horse  which  has  already  won. 
Then  the  notification  is  made  that  the  horses  are  at  the  post, 
and  the  pools  are  closed,  so  that  no  other  persons  can 
buy  tickets.  In  a  few  minutes  afterward  the  winner  is  an- 
nounced. 

' '  In  what  way  can  the  house  make  money  by  this  ?  Why, 
in  pool-selling.  The  more  tickets  that  are  sold  on  the  winning 
horse,  the  less  money  each  ticket-holder  receives.  Suppose,  for 
instance,  there  is  $2500  to  be  divided  in  one  pool  after  deduct- 


110  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

ing  the  commissions.  If  fifty  tickets  have  been  sold  on  the 
winning  horse,  each  ticket  holder  would  receive  $50.  After  the 
proprietor  knows  the  winner,  say  his  louts  buy  twenty  tickets 
on  the  lucky  horse  before  the  pool  is  closed.  This  makes 
seventy  tickets  sold,  reduces  each  ticket-holder's  share  to  a  little 
over  $35,  and  gives  the  proprietor  $700,  of  which  he  virtually 
picks  the  pockets  of  his  customers.  This  is  how  the  plan  is 
accomplished." 

I  do  not  vouch  for  the  truth  of  the  above,  but  this  I  do  say  : 
I  can  see  a  door  wide  open  for  fraud,  if  the  boss  gamblers  are 
inclined  to  practice  what  is  thus  charged  against  them.  If  this 
is  not  their  practice,  what  is  the  use  for  this  private  "  Western 
Union  Telegraph  Company"  ? 

Again,  it  is  charged  that  it  is  not  an  uncommon  thing  for 
certain  ' '  horse' '  men  to  know  which  horse  will  not  win,  and 
to  arrange  for  a  certain  particular  horse  to  win.  That  such 
knowledge  can  be  had  is  possible. 

Let  us  consider  a  few  of  those  cheats  of  the  race-track  by 
which  the  bosses  make  on  a  sure  thing,  while  the  simpletons 
who  swell  the  pools  lose. 

It  was  charged  the  past  summer  in  open  and  public  manner 
that  one  of  the  most  successful  horse  gamblers  won  by  system- 
atically bribing  jockeys  and  trainers.  It  is  claimed  that  he  lays 
his  schemes  so  well  that  he  seldom,  if  ever,  fails  to  make  thou- 
sands of  dollars  on  race  days.  It  was  charged  by  another  one 
of  the  boss  gamblers  that  this  man  had  often  sought  to  get  him 
to  join  in  bribing  jockeys,  and  that  he  had  seen  him  closeted 
with  jockeys.  The  way  success  is  claimed  to  be  insured  is  by 
bribing  the  other  jockeys  to  "  pull  their  horses,"  so  that  the 
horse  bet  on  can  be  sure  to  win.  Sums  of  $1000  and  upward 
have  been  paid  to  bribe  jockeys  on  a  single  race.  If  they 
cannot  ' '  pull ' '  the  horses — that  is,  hold  them  in  and  prevent 
their  winning — then  they  arrange  to  have  the  horse  filled  with 
water,  or  the  blanket  left  off  so  they  will  stiffen  up,  or  some 
other  device  of  equally  mean  and  contemptible  character.  One 
of  the  head  pool-sellers  in  this  country  is  charged  with  these 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  Ill 

manipulations  on  a  race-track.     He  is  said  to  pay  a  jockey 
$4000  a  year  so  as  to  control  him. 

Again,  it  is  stated  by  these  men  themselves  that  they  have 
paid  $500  to  a  jockey  to  win  a  race  for  them.  If  they  can  pay 
that  amount  to  win,  why  not  to  lose  ? 

Again,  it  is  charged  that  the  owners  of  the  horses  are  bribed 
to  let  their  horses  lose  ?  The  above  are  charges  made  against 
themselves.  The  house  was  divided  for  a  while  the  past  sum- 
mer, and  during  the  excitement  these  interesting  points  to  pool- 
buyers  came  out. 

Suppose  the  "  dummies"  receive  instructions  as  to  how  they 
will  act  and  what  horse  is  to  win.  They  go  about  among  the 
genuine  purchasers  —  and  their  rooms  often  are  densely 
crowded  :  No.  3  Barclay  Street  had  about  1 50  men  and  boys 
in  when  we  raided  it — and  pretend  to  be  horsewise,  and  in- 
duce simple-minded  youths  to  buy  heavily  in  order  to  swell 
the  pools.  These  purchases  are  made,  however,  upon  horses 
sure  to  lose,  as  per  arrangement.  The  pool  thus  increased  is 
divided  among  the  ' '  knowing  ones, ' '  and  the  managers'  profits 
are  large.  There  are  many  other  devices  by  which  the  unwary 
are  caught  and  stripped  of  their  money. 

The  whole  thing  is  done  with  such  a  fair  showing,  and  with 
such  seemingly  sure  returns,  that  thousands  are  infatuated  and 
lose  their  all ;  but  still  goaded  on  by  "  sure  to  make  a  hit" 
they  steal,  as  in  all  other  gambling  schemes,  to  satisfy  the  pas- 
sion thus  aroused. 

I  have  sought  to  show  enough  of  the  possibilities,  probabili- 
ties, and  facts  concerning  the  character  of  the  men  and  their 
base  schemes,  to  warn  the  public  and  awaken  public  sentiment 
against  their  infamous  devices. 

Long  Island  City  was  a  magnificent  illustration  of  the  effects 
of  this  damnable  scheme  to  pluck  the  unwary  and  delude  the 
credulous.  The  following  account  of  the  raid  of  October,  1882, 
will  demonstrate  this.  Every  department  of  the  city  govern- 
ment seemed  permeated  with  this  virus.  A  coroner  had  a  gin- 
mill  and  beer-garden  commanding  the  entrance  to  the  pool- 


II2  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

rooms  of  Kelly  &  Bliss,  through  which  all  the  players   were 
required  to  pass  on  entering  or  departing. 

The  police  lolled  about  these  places,  ' '  hail  fellows  well  met. 
When   in  October  last,  after  securing  evidence  against  four  of 
these  dens,  I  made  inquiry  about  the  justices  to  whom  I  should 
have  to  apply  for  warrants,   I  was  astounded  to  learn  that  ] 
should  be  obliged  to  go  to  one  of  these  places,  or  to  certain  gin 
mills  connected  with  or  close  adjoining  them,  to  find  them. 
I  concluded  not  to  stultify  myself  by  recognizing  such  create 
as  officials,  and  so  went  nowhere  near  them. 

The  District  Attorney  had  done  nothing  to  commend  himself, 
and  was  viewed  with  suspicion  because  of  indifference. 

It  may  interest  the  reader  to  know  a  little  of  the  exciting 
history  of  how  these  gambling  dens  were  closed  up 

They  had  become  a  burning  shame  and  reproach  to  the  State 
Their  stench  was   worse  a  thousandfold    than  the  combined 
odors  of  benzine,  petroleum,  garbage,  and  the  legion  of  other 
foul  smells  for  which  Hunter's  Point  is  noted.     Respectabl 
citizens  were  ashamed  to  have  it  known  that  they  lived  in  Long 
Island  City,  and  blushed  an  apology  if  they  were  asked 

^Throughout    the   State    the   press   attacked    the   evil,    and 
denounced  the  same.     It  became  intolerable.     Taxpayers  and 
reputable  citizens  began  to  grow  desperate.     They  urged  the 
Police  Commissioners  to  close  these  places.     They  were  reported 
as  passing  resolutions  and  orders  to  Captain  Woods   of  their 
force   but  when  the  order  was  wanted  the  clerk  of  the  Board 
had  conveniently  lost  it.     When  another  order  was   passed 
then  the  Mayor  demanded  the  resignation  of  the  Commissioner 
who  voted  for  it,  and  countermanded  the  order.     A  pretence 
Zas  made  of  arresting  these  men,  and  they  were  taken  before 
Justice  of  the  Peace  Delahanty  and  discharged. 
J   The  citizens  organized  a  Law  and  Order  Society  and  Qt»  n 
Committee  to  end  this  outrage.    They  appealed  to  sheriff,  Dis- 
tricT  Attorney,  police,  and  local  authorities,  with  equal  lack  c 
effect. 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  113 

At  last,  in  August,  they  appealed  to  the  Society  for  the  Sup- 
pression of  Vice  to  know  if  we  could  not  assist  them  out  of  their 
difficulty,  and  redeem  the  State  from  the  infamous  disgrace 
thus  brought  upon  it.  We  cordially  responded  in  the  affirmative. 

I  detailed  two  trusty  agents  to  secure  the  evidence.  They 
did  their  work  well,  and  in  about  ten  days  we  had  the  evi- 
dence of  guilt  against  twenty-two  of  these  gamblers. 

Then  the  question  arose,  To  whom  shall  we  go  for  war- 
rants ?  To  whom  can  we  apply,  and  not  be  "  given  away"  ? 
The  County  Judge  was  reported  as  saying  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  local  justices  to  attend  to  the  matter  of  apprehending 
these  criminals  and  seizing  their  gambling  apparatus.  Again, 
he  lived  in  Jamaica,  and  only  at  stated  occasions  came  to  Long 
Island  City  to  hold  the  County  Court. 

Of  the  District  Attorney  it  was  reported  that  he  was  on  friendly 
terms  with  the  fraternity,  and  that  certain  interested  parties  were 
frequently  in  his  office  and  company.  Again,  the  political 
power  seemed  to  be  completely  under  the  control  of  these 
gamblers,  and  no  office-seeker  dared  to  oppose  them.  Almost 
despairing,  as  a  last  resort  we  appealed  to  Hon.  Jasper  W. 
Gilbert,  Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  Brooklyn,  and  laid  the 
whole  matter  before  him.  He  was  to  hold  the  Oyer  and  Ter- 
miner  court  over  there,  commencing  on  the  9th  of  October. 

As  soon  as  the  facts  were  laid  before  him,  he  at  once  decided 
to  do  what  he  had  never  done  before,  issue  a  search-warrant 
and  warrant  to  apprehend  these  gamblers.  A  mighty  load  of 
anxiety  was  thus  removed.  A  new  hope  sprang  up  in  the  fact 
that  there  was  at  least  one  official  who  had  the  authority  to 
act,  who  was  fearless  and  upright,  who  would  not  scare,  and 
whom  they  could  not  bribe.  The  warrants  were  issued,  and 
addressed  to  the  sheriff. 

Would  the  sheriff  act  ?  Yes.  But  had  he  a  force  that  could 
be  relied  upon  ?  Having  to  draft  special  men  for  this  service, 
would  we  not  be  betrayed  ?  Could  we  trust  any  of  the  local 
authorities  ?  The  last  three  questions  we  decided  in  the  nega- 
tive. 


114  7 RAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

Then  came  the  question,  Is  it  safe  to  go  over  there,  where 
there  are  from  three  to  four  hundred  "  thieves,"  "  gamblers," 
and  "  blacklegs,"  from  New  York  and  elsewhere,  congregated 
daily  in  these  very  places  ?  The  local  police  and  authorities 
being  in  with  these  men  made  it  all  the  more  hazardous. 

The  safest  place  is  always  the  path  of  duty. 

"  Where  duty  calls  or  danger, 
Be  never  wanting  there." 

We  decided  to  take  a  force  from  New  York.  Accordingly 
we  hired  about  twenty  men,  the  Law  and  Order  Committee 
paying  all  expenses.  We  met  at  the  foot  of  Seventh  Street,  New 
York,  and  crossed  to  the  Greenpoint  Ferry,  as  the  four  gam- 
bling hells  we  were  about  to  raid  were  located  close  to  the  ferry 
at  Long  Island  City.  We  were  obliged  to  go  to  the  sheriff  at 
the  Court-House.  We  took  four  carriages,  and  the  driver  of 
the  carriage  in  which  I  rode  took  the  lead  ;  "he  knew  the 
way,"  he  said. 

Instead  of  going  to  the  Court-House,  he  drove  out  about  one 
and  a  half  miles  out  of  our  way,  up  to  a  cemetery.  This 
delayed  us  over  an  hour.  But  it  was  providential.  There  had 
been,  as  we  afterward  learned,  a  large  crowd  of  gamblers  in 
court  that  morning,  on  the  alert  to  see  if  anything  was  to  be 
done  against  them. 

If  we  had  been  on  time  they  would  have  seen  us.  As  it  was, 
I  left  my  carriages  and  men  about  two  blocks  away  from  the 
Court-House,  walked  up  to  the  easterly  side,  and  entered  the 
basement  way.  I  was  secretly  conducted  to  the  private  office 
of  Justice  Gilbert,  who  promptly  sent  for  the  sheriff.  Almost 
the  first  thing  the  sheriff  said  was  that  he  had  no  men  ;  he  '  *  did 
not  see  how  he  could  do  it  with  the  men  he  had. ' '  I  was 
ready  for  this,  and  presented  him  twenty-one  commissions  for 
him  to  sign,  which  I  had  prepared,  appointing  my  men  all 
deputy  sheriffs  or  peace  officers  for  the  County  of  Queens. 

These  the  sheriff  promptly  signed,  and  then  we  divided  my 
men  into  four  squads.  The  first  squad  I  took  charge  of,  the 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  115 

second  was  under  the  sheriff,  the  third  under  command  of 
J.  A.  Britton,  and  the  last  in  charge  of  a  regular  deputy  sheriff 
of  that  county.'  Taking  our  carriages,  we  took  up  the  line  of 
march  to  the  ferry. 

To  those  not  familiar  with  this  ferry,  let  me  add  that  it  is  no 
uncommon  thing  for  several  carriages  to  follow  one  another  to 
and  from  the  ferry,  as  many  funeral  processions  cross  and 
recross  it. 

So  secretly  had  all  been  done  that  no  one  suspected  that  we 
were  not  a  return  funeral  procession  until  we  turned  the  corner 
next  the  ferry  and  drove  in  front  of  these  dens. 

Many  reports  have  been  published  about  this  raid,  but  none 
are  exactly  correct,  therefore  I  propose  to  add  a  concise  state- 
ment, as  a  record  of  that  important  and  eventful  (to  the  gam- 
blers) occasion. 

Three  of  these  dens  were  on  Front  Street,  and  one  with  an 
entrance  on  Borden  Avenue.  All  four  were  within  a  block  of 
one  another.  My  carriage  was  first.  I  was  assigned  the  worst 
place  to  take,  where  it  was  thought  there  was  the  largest  and 
most  dangerous  crowd.  We  arranged  our  carriages  in  the  order 
of  the  places  we  were  each  to  take — mine  first,  the  sheriff  next, 
Mr.  Britton  next,  and  the  deputy  sheriff  last.  We  also  planned 
that  we  would  strike  the  places  simultaneously.  This  was 
done. 

As  our  carriage  slowed  up  in  front  of  Lovell's  place,  the  one 
assigned  to  me,  the  four  men  with  me  and  myself  sprang  out 
and  made  a  dash  through  two  liquor  saloons  to  gain  the 
entrance  door  to  this  place.  We  were  seen  by  the  lookout,  and 
he  ran  to  give  the  alarm  and  close  the  door.  We  reached  the 
door  just  as  the  gamblers  within  started  to  get  out.  There 
were  about  seventy-five  men  and  youth  present.  We  stopped 
their  exit.  Then  they  rushed  for  a  back  door.  I  started 
across  the  room,  to  prevent  their  escape,  when  my  eye  caught 
the  flash  of  two  or  three  revolvers.  I  quickly  drew  mine,  and 
with  my  warrants  in  one  hand,  revolver  in  the  other,  and  my 
shield  on  my  left  breast,  I  announced  my  authority  and  com- 


Il6  TRAPS  FOR    THE    YOUNG. 

manded  their  peaceful  surrender.  At  the  same  time  I  ordered 
those  endeavoring  to  escape  to  halt  and  preserve  order. 

Then  others  made  a  dash  for  the  back  windows,  only  to  be 
checked  in  the  same  manner.  We  then  arraigned  the  crowd 
in  the  centre  of  the  large  hall,  and  selected  our  prisoners.  Then 
I  turned  the  balance  into  the  streets. 

This  hall  was  about  fifty  by  seventy-five  feet,  and  lined  on  all 
sides  with  paraphernalia  for  registering  bets  and  wagers  and  for 
gambling.  We  seized  everything,  leaving  but  bare  floors  and 
bare  walls. 

Just  as  the  last  of  the  crowd  were  leaving,  in  walked  the 
sheriff.  In  surprise,  I  asked  him  how  that  was  ?  Where 
his  place  and  men  were?  "Oh,"  he  says,  "the  place  is 
closed." 

I  said,  "Come,  then,  and  we  will  open  it."  At  this  time 
the  streets  were  thronged  with  a  crowd  of  cutthroats,  thieves, 
and  gamblers.  The  outlook  was  anything  but  pleasant 

As  we  went  out  the  crowd  opened  ranks  to  allow  us  to  pass. 
Reaching  the  place  the  sheriff  was  to  have  seized,  we  found  that 
some  interested  parties  had  just  unlocked  the  doors  to  go  in  for 
a  moment  to  get  some  valuable  matter. 

I  said,  ' '  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  opening  the 
doors;  please  step  back  and  we  will  take  charge."  I  then 
placed  four  of  my  men  in  charge,  and  proceeded  to  the  next 
place,  where  Mr.  Britton  had  just  forced  an  entrance. 

Upon  entering  this  place,  I  saw  through  a  small  window,  high 
up  in  the  rear  of  the  room  and  overlooking  an  extension  roof,  a 
pair  of  legs,  and  between  them  and  myself  I  saw  a  ' '  roulette' ' 
wheel.  Taking  two  men,  we  started  up  the  stairs  to  find  three 
doors  barring  our  admission. 

It  was  but  the  work  of  a  moment  to  break  down  these  doors, 
and  then  get  out  of  the  back  window,  run  across  the  roofs  oi 
two  houses  and  into  a  hotel,  where  I  found  two  gamblers,  the 
roulette-wheel,  and  about  20,000  pool-tickets,  which  they  were 
bearing  away.  Seizing  the  matter,  we  marched  the  gamblers 
back,  and  then  seized  two  faro-tables,  two  roulette  lay-outs,  and 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  117 

an  immense  amount  of   pool-tickets,   blackboards,  and  other 
gambling  apparatus  down-stairs. 

On  my  return  down-stairs  I  found  the  deputy  sheriff  very 
complacently  waiting  for  me. 

I  asked  him,  ' '  What  is  the  matter  ?' ' 

He  replied,  "  There's  nobody  there  ;  the  place  is  closed." 

I  took  his  warrant,  and  taking  three  men  went  around  the 
corner  into  a  notorious  gin-mill,  kept  by  one  James  Robinson, 
coroner  of  Long  Island  City.  Through  this  foul  place  all  the 
hundreds  of  gamblers  visiting  Kelly  &  Bliss's  pool-rooms  had 
to  pass  to  get  in  or  out. 

To  the  right,  as  you  entered  from  the  street,  was  a  side  door. 
This  door  led  out  into  a  sort  of  beer-garden,  in  the  rear  of  which 
stood  the  largest  pool  or  gambling  saloon  in  the  country. 

Pacing  up  and  down  like  a  caged  wolf,  was  the  coroner,  in  the 
beer-garden,  with  the  door  locked.  I  stopped  at  the  door,  say- 
ing, "  I  am  a  peace  officer,  with  a  search-warrant  for  the  pool- 
rooms, and  I  call  upon  you  to  unlock  the  door. ' ' 

Robinson  said,  ' '  That  door  won' t  be  opened. ' ' 

Said  I,  "If  you  do  not  open  it  I  shall  force  it,  as  I  have  a 
warrant  to  search  the  place,  and  am  a  peace  officer  charged  with 
the  execution  of  the  warrant. ' ' 

He  said,  ' '  That  door  won' t  be  opened.  Don' t  you  touch 
it" 

Said  I,  "  Then  you  open  it." 

The  crowd  in  the  mean  time  had  thronged  into  the  gin-mill, 
literally  packing  it. 

Without  further  ado,  having  complied  with  all  the  require- 
ments of  the  law,  I  put  my  best  foot  forward  and  made,  with 
the  second  advance  of  my  foot,  a  hole  large  enough  for  my 
body  to  go  through.  I  jumped  through,  to  be  caught  in  the 
' '  loving' '  (?)  arms  of  the  coroner.  It  was  but  an  instant  before 
he  discovered  he  had  something  other  than  a  dead  body  in 
charge,  and  suddenly  moved  off  with  a  sort  of  centrifugal 
motion,  toward  the  east  fence  of  his  beer-garden.  In  other 
words,  flinging  him  off,  I  made  for  the  other  door,  and  the 


Il8  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

same  foot  starting  forward  suddenly,  the  door  went  in,  the  locks 
giving  way,  and  our  little  band  of  four  had  charge  of  a  room 
containing,  as  it  was  estimated  at  the  time  by  those  present, 
about  $15,000  worth  of  gambling  materials.  There  were  over 
four  hundred  thousand  pool-tickets  seized. 

We  at  once  set  to  work  inventorying  the  matter.  While  thus 
engaged,  the  coroner  rumseller,  with  one  of  his  sneaks, 
emboldened  by  the  crowd  of  about  1 50  roughs  that  had  flocked 
into  his  gin-mill  and  beer-garden,  came  into  the  saloon,  and 
caught  hold  of  me,  demanding  in  a  loud  and  commanding  tone 
my  name. 

I  replied,  "  Peace  officer,  and  you  will  be  obliged  to  get  out 
of  here. ' ' 

He  said,  "  I  won't  do  it.      I  want  your  name." 

It  was  a  critical  moment.  The  throng  outside  were  his 
sympathizers.  They  only  wanted  a  leader  to  formulate  them- 
selves into  an  ugly  mob  to  handle. 

It  was  not  a  time  to  parley  or  show  the  white  feather.  Deci- 
sive action,  a  bold  front,  and  a  faithful  discharge  of  duty 
required  that  no  interference  be  tolerated.  It  looked  a  little  as 
though  the  coroner  was  looking  after  a  job. 

Accordingly  I  took  him  by  the  shoulder  and  put  him  out  of 
the  building,  and  barred  the  door. 

The  crowd  hung  around  for  awhile,  and  then  all  of  a  sudden 
began  to  rush  out  again,  amid  considerable  commotion. 

There  was  evidently  something  brewing.  A  few  moments 
afterward,  in  passing  from  the  rear  of  this  room  into  the  rear  of 
the  second  place  we  raided,  I  heard  loud  and  excited  calls  of 
my  name.  There  was  a  babel  of  voices  on  the  street  as  the 
crowd  surged  from  Borden  Avenue  up  Front  Street.  As  I  came 
forward  there  were  cries  of  "  Bring  him  out  !"  "  Shoot  him  !" 

"  Hang  the !"  etc.,  as  my  assistants  afterward 

informed  me. 

The  commotion  at  the  door  increased,  and  with  difficulty 
my  men  restrained  the  mob  from  entering.  I  hastened  to  their 
assistance,  and  as  I  did  so  I  saw  two  men  force  them  aside  and 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  119 

enter.  As  I  approached  them  I  discovered  "  mine  host,"  the 
coroner.  The  deathly  pallor  of  his  face  reminded  me  of  his 
subjects.  It  may  have  been  the  shadow  from  some  of  the 
ghastly  forms  he  has  had  to  "  sit  upon."  He  belched  out  like 
a  mad  bull.  "  I  want  you  to  arrest  that  man,"  said  he  to 
his  companion  Then  turning  to  me  he  said,  "  This  is  a  ser- 
geant of  the  police. ' ' 

The  sergeant  was  about  six  feet  two  inches  in  height.  They 
approached  me.  I  hastened  to  greet  them,  not  as  long-lost 
brothers,  but  by  taking  them  each  by  the  arm,  saying,  "  I  am 
a  peace  officer  for  this  county,  and  am  in  charge  of  this  place 
with  a  search-warrant,  and  you  will  have  to  get  out  of  here, ' ' 
and  then  I  ejected  them. 

This  was  done  calmly,  but  in  a  manner  that  comes  from  a 
consciousness  of  necessity  and  of  duty.  It  was  just  that  deter- 
mination and  promptness  that  was  required  to  effectually  check 
the  mob. 

It  seemed  to  satisfy  the  crowd  that  at  last,  after  long  waiting, 
the  laws  were  bound  to  be  enforced  at  all  hazards ;  that  no 
trifling  would  be  tolerated,  nor  interference  brooked  from  any 
source.  We  were  commissioned  to  execute  the  orders  of  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  State,  and  in  discharging  that  sacred 
trust  we  were  bound  to  teach  Long  Island  City  officials  how 
it  should  be  done,  and  at  the  same  time  teach  the  gambling 
fraternity  that  the  laws  could  be  enforced,  notwithstanding  the 
infamous  manner  in  which  they  had  so  long  outraged  them. 

But  the  manner  in  which  the  blackboards  fell  from  the  walls, 
the  gambling-tables,  pool  tickets,  marking-racks,  desks,  coun- 
ters, and  other  gaming  materials  were  being  thrown  together, 
argued  ruin  to  their  profitable  business. 

Their  craft  was  in  danger.  Having  failed  to  scare  us  or  to 
check  the  enforcement  of  these  warrants,  the  coroner  was 
bound  to  adopt  another  ruse.  So  he  went  up  to  another  gin- 
mill,  close  to  where  Justice  Gilbert  was  holding  court,  and 
found  a  ready  helper  in  Justice  of  the  Peace  (save  the  mark) 
Delahanty.  Getting  a  sheet  of  foolscap  paper,  on  one  half  of 


120  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

it  Robinson  made  an  affidavit,  and  on  the  other  half  Delahanty 
wrote  out  an  illegal  warrant.  This  was  to  secure  the  desired 
end,  to  wit,  get  me  away  for  the  balance  of  the  day  and  night, 
and  have  my  men  withdrawn,  so  that  the  sheriff's  tools  should 
be  placed  in  charge. 

To  further  this  much-to-be-desired-end,  Mr.  Delahanty  drew 
his  warrant,  "  and  bring  him  before  me  at  ten  o'clock,  October 
loth,  1882,"  being  the  next  morning.  This  is  in  violation  of 
the  Code,  which  says,  ' '  forthwith  before  me,  or  in  my  absence 
or  inability  to  act,  before  the  nearest  magistrate." 

I  had  just  arraigned  the  prisoners  whom  we  had  arrested,  in 
addition  to  seizing  the  places,  before  Justice  Gilbert,  and  was 
on  my  return  to  continue  the  seizure  and  attend  to  carting 
away  the  goods,  when  again  the  coroner  appeared  with  another 
Long  Island  City  policeman.  This  was  just  as  I  came  out  of 
Justice  Gilbert's  court  The  officer  said,  "  I  have  a  warrant 
for  your  arrest. "  "  All  right, ' '  I  replied  ;  "  I  ask  to  be  taken 
at  once  before  Justice  Gilbert  as  the  nearest  magistrate."  The 
officer  said,  ' '  There  is  one  nearer  than  he,  up-stairs  here, "  point- 
ing over  toward  a  gin-mill,  where  Delahanty  was  preparing  his 
papers. 

We  went  up-stairs.  I  then  demanded  to  see  the  warrant, 
and  the  officer  handed  out  the  affidavit  of  the  coroner. 

This  was  all  he  had.  I  then  showed  my  warrants,  and 
informed  him  that  I  was  in  process  of  executing  the  same,  and 
that  I  must  not  be  detained.  He  called  another  officer,  stand- 
ing by  in  uniform  with  his  club,  and  commanded  him  to  take 
charge  of  me.  I  warned  him,  repeating  in  substance  what  I  had 
said  before.  But  they  were  bound  to  win.  The  officer  caught 
hold  of  me  to  detain  me.  I  threw  him  off,  and  he  went  as  far 
as  the  walls  of  the  room  would  permit,  and  I  walked  over  to 
Justice  Gilbert. 

In  the  mean  time  the  first  officer  went  to  the  gin-mill  and  got 
the  warrant  which  Delahanty  had  completed.  He  came  into 
court  and  presented  this  warrant,  and  at  the  suggestion  of 
Justice  Gilbert  I  went  with  him.  The  justice  directed  the 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  121 

officer  to  forthwith  return  me  before  him  if  the  justice  of  the 
peace  was  not  at  the  court. 

We  returned  to  find  Delahanty  still  absent  from  his  court  and 
in  the  gin-mill. 

I  demanded  to  be  taken  before  Justice  Gilbert.  We  went 
down  the  stairs.  At  the  bottom  of  the  stairs  the  officer  stopped 
and  knocked  on  the  shutters  of  the  gin-mill,  and  Delahanty 
appeared.  He  ordered  us  up-stairs.  After  a  delay  of  about  fif- 
teen minutes  he  came  up.  I  showed  my  warrants  and  my 
appointment  by  the  sheriff.  This  availed  nothing. 

Then  one  Richard  Busteed  appeared  on  behalf  of  the  people. 
I  asked  if  he  was  authorized  to  act  for  the  District  Attorney. 
This  man,  an  ex-United  States  judge,  replied  in  a  most  profes- 
sional and  high-toned  police-court  style,  "  None  of  your  busi- 
ness." I  protested  to  the  court  against  his  usurping  the  office 
or  performing  the  functions  of  the  District  Attorney  without 
authority.  The  court  allowed  it,  of  course.  Then  Busteed 
employed  the  extent  of  his  powers  to  malign  me,  and  argued 
that  I  be  committed  for  the  night.  After  detaining  me  till 
nearly  6. 30  p.  M.  — they  dared  not  commit  me  in  face  of  my 
authority  and  warrants — I  was  told  I  could  go  till  the  morning, 
to  appear  at  10  o'clock. 

In  the  mean  time  the  arrangements  had  been  made  for  the 
night,  and  the  sheriff  had  placed  his  deputies  in  charge,  relieving 
my  men. 

Just  to  show  how  the  courts  can  be  prostituted  and  laws  over^ 
ridden,  let  me  give  a  little  more  concerning  this  justice. 

When  my  case  was  called  the  next  morning,  my  counsel  and 
myself  were  present.  We  answered  ' '  Ready. ' '  Mr.  Busteed, 
the  bogus  District  Attorney,  again  answered  for  the  people. 
We  again  protested,  and  demanded  an  examination.  Mr. 
Busteed  announced  the  people  not  ready,  as  none  of  the  wit- 
nesses were  present,  and  yet  the  complainant  Robinson  sat 
beside  him.  We  demanded  the  right  to  cross-examine  the  com- 
plainant. 

The  justice  refused  this,  notwithstanding  the  law  and  Code 


122  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

say  that,  upon  a  prisoner  being  arraigned,  the  magistrate  must, 
if  his  counsel  be  present,  "  immediately  enter  upon  an  examina- 
tion;"  and  further,  if  an  adjournment  be  had  for  any  cause,  the 
magistrate  "  must  commit  the  defendant,  or  discharge  him  upon 
his  giving  bail,"  etc. 

Delahanty  peremptorily  adjourned  the  case,  failing  to  com- 
mit me  or  even  to  name  the  bail.  They  were  afraid  of  a  habeas 
corpus,  I  walked  out  of  court,  and  went  before  the  Grand 
Jury,  and  secured  two  indictments  against  Delahanty,  Robinson, 
Busteed,  and  the  officer  who  arrested  me,  for  conspiracy  to 
prevent  the  execution  of  the  warrants,  or  interfering  with  the 
due  course  of  law. 

On  the  next  calling  of  the  case,  October  i2th,  I  was  denied 
the  right  to  see  the  warrant  and  complaint,  and  was  told  by  this 
unlearned  justice  that  as  a  defendant  I  had  no  right  to  see 
either  of  them,  but  that  my  counsel,  "  if  he  demanded  the  right, 
could  see  them. ' '  He  sent  for  the  District  Attorney,  who  sent 
back  word  that  he  would  not  appear  in  the  case.  Then  Mr. 
Delahanty  was  going  to  adjourn  the  case  again.  Again  he 
sent  for  the  District  Attorney.  He  was  in  a  painful  quandary. 
If  he  adjourned  it,  he  feared  a  habeas  corpus  before  Justice 
Gilbert,  and  that  would  never  do  on  such  papers,  and  especially 
after  denying  the  defendant  every  right  under  the  law. 

Finally  the  District  Attorney  appeared,  and  the  justice  said  he 
had  sent  for  him  for  advice.  The  District  Attorney  said,  ' '  My 
advice  is  to  dismiss  the  case  at  once." 

To  the  chagrin  of  the  mob,  whom  Delahanty  was  desirous  of 
pleasing,  and  the  bitter  disappointment  of  the  coroner,  who  was 
anxious  for  a  case,  and  the  extreme  mortification  of  this  unjust 
judge  (excuse  the  word  judge,  but  that  is  his  office),  he  had  to 
dismiss  the  case,  and  I  was  again  a  free  man. 

The  same  Grand  Jury  indicted  twenty-two  of  the  pool  gam- 
blers on  our  complaints. 

As  I  look  back  over  that  day  and  consider  the  mob  that  were 
present,  sustained,  cheered,  and  encouraged  by  sympathizing 
officials,  I  can  but  bow  my  head  to  the  One  who  surely  on  that 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  123 

day  "  led  us  on"  and  screened  us  from  danger  and  harm.  To 
His  great  Name  be  all  the  glory.  We  succeeded  because  we 
trusted  in  Him. 

' '  Blessed  is  the  man  who  trusteth  in  the  Lord. ' ' 
To  witness  such  prostitution  of  the  laws  of  our  State,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  demoralization  and  widespread  corruption  of  youth 
and  others  from  these  schemes,  seems  to  call  for  action,  prompt 
and  decisive,  by  the  people  of  this  commonwealth.  This  evil 
is  gaining  great  headway.  Money  thus  easily  gathered  up  paves 
the  way  to  popularize  this  evil  by  costly  apparatus  and  elegant 
appurtenances. 

The  following,  from  the  New  York  Herald oi  November  loth, 
illustrates  this,  and  should  sound  a  note  of  alarm  and  warning. 
It  says,  speaking  of  the  improvements  of  one  race-course  for 
next  season  : 

"Underneath  the  stand  many  necessary  improvements  will 
be  made.  Among  these  is  an  attractive  restaurant,  with  a 
fine  kitchen,  and  substantial  table  d'hote  guaranteed  on  race 
days,  which  those  who  have  heretofore  been  compelled  to 
gnaw  ragged  beef  and  tough  sandwiches  at  panic  prices  will 
appreciate.  In  addition  to  this  a  club  office  will  form  part  of 
the  suit  of  rooms,  and,  lastly,  an  elegantly  appointed  ladies' 
room,  with  private  staircase  connecting  with  the  grand  stand 
above.  The  arrangement  of  the  betting  ring  will  be  completely 
revolutionized.  The  French  pool  stand  will  be  located  directly 
under  the  north  end  of  the  stand,  attached  to  which  will  be 
built  a  telegraph  office  and  a  lunch-room  for  the  accommoda- 
tion of  the  small  betters.  The  present  location  used  by  the 
bookmakers,  which  is  forty  by  one  hundred  feet,  will  be 
enlarged  to  eighty  by  one  hundred,  and  screened  from  the  sun, 
and  the  floor  boarded  over.  The  auction -pool  stand  will  be 
taken  to  a  remote  point,  and  a  '  ring'  fifty  by  fifty  constructed, 
with  seats  for  buyers.  One  hundred  new  stalls  will  be  built,  as 
it  is  thought  that  the  number  of  horses  which  will  gather  at  the 
grounds  next  season  will  be  more  than  the  present  stabling  can 
accommodate. ' ' 


124  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

This  scourge  is  justified  by  horse  gamblers  and  jockeys  on 
the  ground  that  it  is  essential  to  the  improvement  of  the  horse. 
I  have  heard  officials  argue  that  it  is  necessary  that  "  bets," 
"  wagers,"  "  bookmaking,"  and  pool-selling"  be  allowed,  in 
order  to  keep  up  the  interest  in  the  improvement  of  the  horse. 

This  is  a  gross  libel  on  the  horse  and  upon  horse  owners. 
To  saddle  the  noblest  of  all  animals  with  these  schemes  that 
are  leading  thousands  to  embezzlements,  defalcations,  robberies, 
and  other  breaches  of  trust,  and  to  say  that  this  noble  beast 
does  not  present  to  the  lover  of  his  kind  enough  fine  points  by 
nature  to  awaken  healthy  competition,  is  false  reasoning. 

If  wealthy  men  who  are  able  to  pay  fabulous  prices  for  horses 
will  not  buy  and  train  them,  unless  the  people  of  the  State 
allow  sharpers  to  carry  on  these  devices  of  gambling  in  con- 
nection with  this  improvement  of  fast  stock,  then  better  stop 
improvements  in  this  line.  The  possibilities  of  what  a  horse 
may  yet  be  made  to  do,  viewed  in  the  light  of  past  wonders  in 
stock  and  speed,  present  enough  to  encourage  still  greater 
efforts  in  this  line.  It  is  a  specious  plea  for  gambling,  ignor- 
ing the  great  wrong  done  to  innocent  victims,  and  unmindful 
of  the  scourge  to  the  community.  The  morals  of  the  com- 
munity are  nothing  compared  to  the  money  that  a  few 
unscrupulous  men  may  make,  if  allowed  to  conduct  these 
devices  to  rob  and  ruin  thoughtless  ones. 

The  defenders  of  these  practices  act  purely  from  a  selfish 
standpoint. 

This  business  seems  to  sear  the  conscience  of  officials,  and  to 
blind  their  eyes  to  their  duty  to  the  public.  For  instance,  one 
jay  in  General  Sessions  Court,  New  York,  I  heard  an  Assistant 
District  Attorney  move  Judge  Gildersleeve  to  sentence  five 
"faro"  and  "  roulette"  gamblers,  and  argue  for  a  light  sen- 
tence, which  was  imposed  by  the  obliging  judge,  to  wit — $100 
fine  for  each  of  the  head  gamblers  or  owners,  and  $50  each  for 
the  two  assistants,  while  at  the  very  same  session,  and  during 
court  hours,  while  waiting  to  call  up  the  above  cases,  the  same 
official  admitted  having  lost  the  Saturday  previous  over  $500  at 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  125 

Brighton  race-course,  and  that  he  won  back  the  same  during 
the  same  day  on  the  last  race. 

This  gentleman  thinks  it  no  harm  to  bet  on  horse-racing, 
and  thinks  it  is  essential  to  the  maintaining  of  race-tracks  and 
the  improvement  of  horses. 

With  equal  earnestness  every  thoughtful  man  must  contend 
against  this  specious  argument,  and  vehemently  maintain  that 
the  improvement  of  the  human  race,  the  preserving  of  the 
integrity  of  our  youth,  and  the  crushing  out  of  these  demoraliz- 
ing influences  in  the  community,  are  each  one  of  tenfold  more 
importance  than  the  improvement  of  any  dumb  animal. 

Gamblers  should  be  punished  properly,  whether  horses  race 
or  not,  and  whether  prosecuting  officers  win  or  lose.  The 
morals  of  the  community  are  not  to  be  measured  by  the  gam- 
bler's pocket  nor  the  integrity  of  our  young  men  sacrificed  for 
the  jockey's  interests.  The  property  of  merchants  should  not 
be  offered  on  this  altar  by  their  employes  without  their  knowl- 
edge and  consent. 

These  gamblers  reap  rich  harvests  !  What  of  the  com- 
munity ? 

A  few  sad  instances,  taken  from  many  others,  will  illustrate — 
to  wit : 

Christian  Keifer,  the  Town  Treasurer  of  Union,  N.  J.,  ar- 
rested in  October,  1881,  for  the  defalcation  of  about  $3200,  con- 
fessed to  having  taken  and  lost  it  in  Barclay  Street  pool-rooms. 

A  former  clerk  in  the  New  York  Ferry  Company  stole  $2800 
before  being  detected,  which  he  also  lost  in  horse-pool. 

Yesterday  a  father  came  to  my  office  with  the  sad  tale  that 
his  son,  at  college,  borrowed  (stole)  his  mother's  watch,  valued 
at  $250,  and  pawned  it  to  raise  $100  to  gamble  with  in  one  of 
these  schemes.  He  says,  "  My  son  wants  to  break  off  this 
habit,  but  is  so  infatuated  and  crazed  that  he  cannot.  When  he 
gets  in  with  his  youthful  companions  he  seems  to  lose  all  con- 
trol over  himself. ' ' 

There  is  a  remedy  required.  The  proper  enforcement  of  the 
law  can  and  will  check  this  evil.  If  this  be  not  soon  done, 


126  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

society  must  give  up  the  reins  of  government  to  the  gamblers 
and  criminals  of  the  State.  They  are  fast  usurping  a  controlling 
influence.  They  are  coining  money  from  the  masses,  and  they 
turn  about  and  use  their  pilferings  as  a  lash  to  secure  the  means 
for  their  nefarious  schemes,  and  to  perpetuate  their  infamous 
practices.  A  prosecuting  officer  who  sees  no  harm  in  gam- 
bling and  fraternizes  with  gamblers  is  not  the  proper  one  to 
administer  the  laws.  That  which  he  alloweth,  how  can  he  con- 
demn ?  With  the  winnings  in  his  pocket,  how  shall  such  an 
one  justly  punish  the  one  from  whom  he  has  won,  or  destroy 
the  scheme  that  has  brought  him  gain  ? 

These  men,  moreover,  claim  to  be  able  to  have  their  candi- 
dates appointed  to  office,  and  of  course  do  not  appoint  a  man 
who  will  enforce  the  laws.  What  they  want  and  mean  to  have 
is  non-interference. 

Business  men,  a  clerk  who  frequents  these  places,  and  is 
brought  under  these  seductive  influences,  is  not  to  be  trusted  in 
office  or  store.  The  wild  excitement  that  fires  his  brain  will 
unman  him.  The  things  he  would  not  do  will  he  do.  Your 
interests  are  jeopardized  ;  your  property  stolen  ;  you  are  im- 
poverished in  proportion  as  the  gambler  is  enriched  by  your 
employes  thus  crazed. 

Let  the  laws  be  rigidly  enforced.  Wherein  present  laws  are 
defective  or  weak,  let  Legislatures  promptly  amend  and 
strengthen  them.  Then  let  the  public  arouse  themselves  and 
demand  that  these  laws  be  vigorously  enforced  and  the  encroach- 
ments of  this  and  kindred  evils  be  stayed. 

To  trifle  with  such  evils  is  to  plant  a  poisonous  upas-tree 
that  shall  spread  over  the  community,  overshadowing  every 
healthy  enterprise,  and  stunting  every  moral  sensibility,  until 
the  nation  shall  be  cursed  with  the  same  kind  of  rulers  as  has 
been  developed  by  these  influences  in  Long  Island  City.  It 
shall  not,  however,  have  been  in  vain  that  that  stench  has 
arisen  from  that  city,  if  the  people  be  aroused  to  check  its 
inroads  in  other  places.  Indulgence  and  toleration  of  such 
evils  are  entering  wedges  which  will  soon  rend  asunder  the  best 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  127 

organized  government.  This  evil,  like  intemperance,  needs  but 
iu  be  let  alone  by  law-abiding  citizens  to  overthrow  the  highest 
interests  in  any  community,  and  to  defy  and  set  aside  all  rights 
which  a  good  government  secures  society. 

There  is  but  one  remedy — extermination  I  Enforce  the  laws 
in  every  instance  ;  make  no  exception.  To  allow  such  forces 
to  lay  hold  of  or  to  become  an  element  in  politics,  is  to  elevate 
the  worst  men  into  office  and  overthrow  equity  and  justice. 
It  is  a  subsidy  to  crime. 

Basest  trickery  and  most  infamous  treachery,  backed  by  a 
mint  of  money  corruptly  obtained,  are  elements  that  no  politi- 
cal party  can  countenance  and  long  retain  a  hold  upon  respect- 
able voters.  These  elements  exist  wherever  the  gambler's  claw 
appears  in  politics.  Unscrupulous  leaders  are  placed  in  the 
front  ranks  whenever  any  party  trades  ' '  protection ' '  for 
"  blackmail"  with  such  crimes. 

These  gamblers  demand  and  pay  "  to  be  let  alone."  Party 
leaders  demand  of  subordinates  in  office  that  in  return  for  the 
money  thus  paid  by  criminals  they  violate  their  oaths  by 
granting  them  immunity  from  arrest.  That  this  immunity  has 
been  granted  by  those  sworn  to  enforce  these  laws  witnesseth 
the  history  of  lottery,  policy,  and  pool  gamblers,  and  keepers 
of  disorderly  houses  and  unlicensed  gin-mills  during  past  years. 

Billiard  Pool. 

This  enticing  game  trenches  so  closely  upon  the  innocent, 
that  care  will  have  to  be  taken  not  to  misunderstand  the  writer's 
views. 

Fifteen-ball  pool  is  a  game  played  on  a  billiard -table,  and 
while  many  play  it  without  injury,  others  again  are  so  infatuated 
that  speedy  ruin  overtakes  them.  The  writer  knows  nothing 
practically  of  this  scheme,  his  knowledge  having  been  acquired 
while  seeking  to  find  lost  sons  of  respectable  parents.  It  is  no 
part  of  my  official  duty  to  take  up  these  cases.  From  sympathy 
for  bereaved  parents,  and  to  help  reclaim  bright  young  men,  I 
have  at  different  times  at  night  sought  the  wayward  in  these 


\ 

128  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

places.  In  lottery,  policy,  and  pool  gambling, ,  *^e  player  may 
make  his  play  in  secret,  with  no  persons  but  the  dealer  Know- 
ing what  his  numbers  are  or  whether  he  wins  or  loses.  There 
may  be  scores  about  him,  and  they  all  ignorant  of  the  results  of 
his  venture,  as  the  printed  list  of  drawings,  or  numbers,  or 
name  of  horse  on  the  blackboard  announces  to  him  his  luck. 
Billiard  pool  may  be  less  pernicious  than  either  of  the  other 
three,  but  in  it  the  spirit  of  venture  or  gaming  is  awakened,  and, 
moreover,  the  boy's  pride  is  touched.  He  plays,  and  wins  or 
loses,  while  spectators  witness  his  success  or  discomfiture.  If 
he  gets  the  smallest  number  of  points,  according  to  the  rules 
of  the  game  he  must  pay  for  all.  This  is  usually  five  or  ten 
cents  for  each  player,  or  for  drinks.  "  Pool  for  drinks"  is 
against  the  law,  yet  is  quite  common.  In  either  case,  in  most 
pool- rooms,  to  keep  up  appearances,  the  young  player  must 
order  his  wines  or  beer,  and  have  his  glasses  set  around,  to  show 
that  he  is  not  behind  the  age.  This  game,  as  I  am  informed 
by  expert  players,  can  be  played  by  eight  persons,  and  at  any 
stage  of  the  game,  if  any  number  below  eight  are  playing,  any 
person,  stranger  or  otherwise,  entering  a  pool-room  while  a 
game  is  going  on,  may,  until  the  eight  are  filled  out,  take  a  cue 
and  join  in  the  game.  Then  the  one  getting  the  lowest  points 
must  pay  for  the  entire  number. 

It  will  be  observed  that  this  opens  a  wide  door  for  swindling 
the  amateur  and  the  unwary.  Every  well-regulated  pool-room, 
as  the  practice  goes,  is  equipped  with  an  expert  player.  More 
than  once  have  I  seen  these  "  stool-pigeons"  sitting  about  an 
empty  pool-room,  and  as  soon  as  a  stranger  approached  jump 
up  and  begin  to  play.  By  clumsy  playing  at  first,  they  made  it 
appear  that  they  knew  very  little  about  the  game,  in  order  to 
draw  others  into  it,  and  so  entrap  the  stranger. 

This  game  not  only  calls  into  play  the  spirit  of  gambling, 
and  touches  the  pride,  but  quickens  a  habit  for  strong  drink. 
Many  tender  youth,  anxious  to  appear  well,  will  after  repeated 
losses  continue  to  play  to  be  called  "  gamy,"  while  others, 
knowing  they  are  no  match  for  their  competitors,  from  a  false 


GAMBLING    TRAPS.  129 

pride  are  afraid  to  slop.  Again,  a  drink  or  two  often  fuddles 
the  brain,  until  the  bewildered  victim  has  not  sense  enough  left 
to  know  when  to  stop.  So  money  is  squandered,  and  many 
steal  to  keep  up  with  their  associates. 

Let  me  illustrate  this  business  by  its  fruits. 

A  noble  mother  in  New  York  came  to  my  office  one  day, 
and  bursting  into  tears  besought  me  to  find  her  lost  boy. 

She  said,  ' '  H ran  away  about  a  month  ago.  For  two 

weeks  we  mourned  him  as  dead.  But  that  was  not  the  worst 
of  it.  We  have  now  discovered  that  he  robbed  his  employer, 
and  that  an  associate  of  his  in  the  same  department  has  been 
arrested  and  is  in  the  Tombs.  Then  again,"  she  said,  "  he 
stole  $40  from  a  lady  in  my  house,  and  last  night  my  house 
was  entered  and  robbed  again,  and  I  fear  it  is  my  poor  boy. 
He  was  an  only  son,  about  seventeen  years  of  age. ' ' 

Night  after  night  I  went  through  the  pool  saloons  where  he 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  playing.  I  saw  lads  from  fourteen  to 
eighteen  years  of  age  standing  around  these  tables  playing,  with 
their  glasses  of  wine,  beer,  and  liquors  displayed  about  them, 
and  with  cigars  or  cigarettes  in  their  mouths,  while  some  of 
them  were  so  intoxicated  that  they  could  scarcely  hold  their  cue 
in  play.  They  would  make  wretched  plays,  while  full-grown 
lookers-on  would  laugh  and  applaud  their  drunken  antics. 

September  21,  1882,  a  prominent  gentleman  from  Brooklyn 
came  to  our  office  for  advice  and  help.  His  story  was  of  his 
nephew,  a  bright  lad  of  seventeen  years,  who  had  run  away  a 
week  before,  after  robbing  his  own  mother  of  a  gold  watch  and 
silverware,  and  his  uncle  of  $80  in  cash.  He  had  been  crazed 
with  this  kind  of  pool. 

At  this  writing  the  search  for  this  deluded  boy  is  being  prose- 
cuted, to  reclaim  him  if  possible. 

A  bright  boy  of  fourteen  years  robbed  his  own  brother  of 
$20,  and  with  an  Irish  boy  of  about  his  own  age  started  for  a 
pool-room,  where  pools  for  prizes  of  candy,  cigarettes,  or  beer 
were  played.  Here  he  spent  a  good  portion  of  his  booty. 

Another  lad,  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  of  bright,  keen 


I3o  TRAPS  FOR        f^   YOUNG. 


intellect,  ran  away  with  another  companion  '  01'  cr&fUlt..hjs  own 
age,  crazed  by  pool-gambling.  They  imagined  themselves 
experts,  and  thought  to  support  themselves  in  that  way.  They 
went  to  Boston,  where  they  were  arrested  and  sent  to  prison  for 
larceny,  where  the  lad's  father,  a  former  member  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State  of  New  York,  discovered  him. 

September  22d,  1882,  Charles  H.  Warren  shot  Patrick 
Dwyer  over  a  game  of  pool,  in  a  saloon  at  108  Bowery. 

The  above  are  but  a  few  of  many  cases  which  could  be  cited 
as  the  fruitage  of  this  kind  of  seed-sowing. 

This  game  invites  intemperance  and  but  few  young  men 
can  indulge  long  in  the  practice  of  playing  "  pool  for  drinks," 
without  sinking  themselves  in  the  social  scale,  and  forging  a 
chain  of  habits  that  they  will  find  it  a  hard  matter  to  break 
asunder.  It  associates  our  youth  with  profane  and  obscene 
companions.  Many  men  throng  into  these  places  well  dressed, 
with  plenty  of  spending  money,  who,  making  a  respectable  out- 
ward appearance,  seem  to  think  it  a  mark  of  a  smart  man  to 
swear  loudly  or  to  gather  a  group  of  listeners  about  them  while 
they  regale  their  hearers  with  licentious  and  foul  stories.  Such 
caricatures  of  men  imagine  that  if  they  can  draw  attention  to 
themselves  by  a  lavish  expenditure  of  money  at  the  bar,  or  by 
befouling  the  air  with  oaths  or  reeking  stories,  they  are  hail-fel- 
lows-well-met, all  forgetful  that  "  evil  communications  cor- 
rupt good  manners.  '  ' 

The  unhealthy  spirit  of  gaming  is  aggravated  by  pride,  and 
liquor  burns  out  self-respect  and  honor,  while  as  with  a  red-hot 
iron  the  evil  associates  sear  the  better  nature  of  the  youth  thus 
entrapped. 

Parents,  such  an  atmosphere  is  dangerous  to  your  son.  The 
contagion  of  sinful  influences  fills  the  air,  and  the  poison  will 
corrupt  the  better  nature  of  your  boy.  Under  such  influences 
he  will  almost  inevitably  be  led  away  from  integrity  and  honor- 
able pursuits.  Pool-gambling  is  only  another  subtle  scheme  of 
Satan  to  ensnare  our  youth. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DEATH    TRAPS    BY    MAIL. 

As  has  been  seen,  Satan  is  permitted  to  place  his  1.  ips  where 
they  will  do  him  most  good  and  the  children  most  harm.  The 
sickening  details  of  crimes,  infidel  scoffings,  cheap  works  of 
fiction,  newspaper  advertisements,  "  blood-and-thunder "  story 
papers — all  are  freely  admitted  around  the  hearthstones  and 
under  the  roof-trees  of  the  land. 

We  now  come  to  a  class  that  is  thrust  upon  the  youth  in 
secret.  The  favorite  method  is  under  the  sanctity  of  the  seal 
in  the  United  States  mail.  By  means  of  it  the  most  infamous 
scoundrel  may  send  the  vilest  matter  to  the  purest  boy  or  girl. 
And  this  is  being  done  systematically.  If  the  facts  of  the  business 
of  obscene  publications  and  indecent  articles  could  be  pub- 
lished here,  a  shock  would  be  given  to  the  sensitive  and  decent 
in  the  community  that  would  make  their  blood  run  cold,  while 
a  wave  of  indignation  would  roll  over  the  country  that  would 
sweep  away  any  person  found  engaging  in  the  business.  The 
evils  we  have  been  considering  travel  openly,  and  are  seen  on 
all  sides.  But  here  comes  a  more  subtle  and  insidious  snare. 
To  one  acquainted  with  the  history,  the  variety,  and  extent  of 
this  evil,  it  does  not  seem  possible  that  man  could  sink  so  low 
as  to  edit  such  foulness,  while  it  appears  impossible  for  the 
human  mind  to  invent  the  variety  of  indecencies  which  formerly 
existed  before  the  effectual  efforts  of  the  New  York  Society  for 
the  Suppression  of  Vice  had  suppressed  them. 

Secrecy  marks  these  operations.  In  the  darkness  of  attic- 
room,  of  basement  or  cellar,  is  the  favorite  salesroom.  The 
message  of  these  evil  things  is  death — socially,  morally,  physi- 
cally, and  spiritually. 


132  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

This  moral  vulture  steals  upon  our  youth  in  the  home, 
school,  and  college,  silently  striking  its  terrible  talons  into  their 
vitals,  and  forcibly  bearing  them  away  on  hideous  wings  to 
shame  and  death.  Like  a  cancer,  it  fastens  itself  upon  the 
imagination,  and  sends  down  into  the  future  life  thousands  of 
roots,  poisoning  the  nature,  enervating  the  system,  destroying 
self-respect,  fettering  the  will-power,  defiling  the  mind,  corrupt- 
ing the  thoughts,  leading  to  secret  practices  of  most  foul  and 
revolting  character,  until  the  victim  tires  of  life,  and  existence 
is  scarcely  endurable.  It  sears  the  conscience,  hardens  the 
heart,  and  damns  the  soul.  It  leads  to  lust  and  lust  breeds 
unhallowed  living,  and  sinks  man,  made  in  the  image  of  God, 
below  the  level  of  the  beasts.  There  is  no  force  at  work  in  the 
community  more  insidious,  more  constant  in  its  demands,  or 
more  powerful  and  far-reaching  than  lust.  //  is  the  constant 
companion  of  all  other  crimes.  It  is  honeycombing  society. 
Like  a  frightful  monster,  it  stands  peering  over  the  sleeping 
child,  to  catch  its  first  thoughts  on  awakening.  This  is 
especially  true  where  the  eye  of  youth  has  been  defiled  with  the 
scenes  of  lasciviousness  in  the  weekly  criminal  papers,  or  by 
their  offsprings,  obscene  books  and  pictures.  The  peace  of  the 
family  is  wrecked,  homes  desolated,  and  society  degraded, 
while  it  curses  more  and  more  each  generation  born  into  the 
world. 

Think  of  the  homes  that  are  wrecked  by  unbridled  passion, 
of  the  curse  that  falls  upon  any  community  when  there  is  spread 
before  the  eyes  of  all  classes  by  the  newspaper  gossip,  the  inner 
secrets  of  those  whited  sepulchres,  those  moral  monsters,  who, 
stripped  of  all  sense  of  shame,  parade  their  foul  living  in  the 
courts. 

From  the  first  impure  thought  till  the  close  of  the  loathsome 
life  of  the  victim  of  lust,  there  is  a  succession  of  sickening, 
offensive,  and  disgusting  scenes  before  the  mind,  until  life,  to 
such  a  one,  must  be  made  up  of  disease,  wounds,  and  putrefy- 
ing sores.  Suicide  dances  before  his  vision  in  his  moments  of 
despondency  as  the  only  means  by  which  to  hide  his  shame, 


DEATH   TRAPS  BY  MAIL.  133 

and  the  sole  cure  for  his  wretched  condition.  The  turgid 
waters  speak  louder  with  the  death  stillness  which  they  promise 
than  does  hope,  with  its  beckonings  to  a  better  life.  Turn  as 
he  will,  the  chains  of  habit  permit  him  to  go  but  a  short  dis- 
tance before  they  clank  their  hold  upon  him.  The  brightest 
sun  over  his  head  seems  scarcely  able  to  penetrate  the  gloom  of 
despair  that  youthful  indiscretions  have  often  woven  into  his 
life.  His  one  cry  is,  "  Who  shall  deliver  me  from  the  body  of 
this  death  ?' ' 

As  the  jackal  follows  in  the  wake  of  its  equally  ferocious  yet 
stronger  foe,  so  murder  haunts  the  pathway  of  lust.  There 
are  in  a  neighboring  city,  at  this  writing,  three  youths  on  trial 
for  murder.  It  is  charged  that  after  a  most  monstrous  con- 
spiracy, a  young  and  beautiful  maiden  was  ruined  and  then 
murdered  to  hide  their  shame.  Lust  has  but  to  whistle,  and 
red-handed  murder  quickly  responds,  obedient  to  his  mas- 
ter. 

I  repeat,  lust  is  the  boon  companion  of  all  other  crimes.  There 
is  no  evil  so  extensive,  none  doing  more  to  destroy  the  institu- 
tions of  free  America.  It  sets  aside  the  laws  of  God  and 
morality ;  marriage  bonds  are  broken,  most  sacred  ties 
severed,  State  laws  ignored,  and  dens  of  infamy  plant  them- 
selves in  almost  every  community,  and  then  reaching  out  like 
immense  cuttlefish,  draw  in,  from  all  sides,  our  youth  to 
destruction. 

Obscene  literature  may  be  said  to  be  the  favorite  agency  of 
the  evil  one  to  recruit  these  dens.  City  houses  of  ill-fame,  in 
many  instances,  are  filled  with  the  daughters  of  country  homes. 
Often  children  are  scarcely  able  to  walk  before  a  curse  and 
blight  has  been  attempted  by  some  foul-minded  nurse  upon 
these  buds  of  humanity.  Scarcely  have  they  become  able  to 
observe  what  is  passing  about  them  before  the  seeds  of  impurity 
meet  their  eyes  in  the  licentious  papers  that  line  their  pathway. 
Then  when  the  critical  period  approaches  when  they  emerge  from 
youth  to  manhood  or  womanhood,  when  those  mysterious 
changes  in  nature  take  place,  and  they  become  aware  of  new 


134  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

emotions  within,  then  the  wily  one  stands  ready  to  capture  and 
pervert  them  to  his  own  hellish  purposes. 

Consider  some  of  his  devices  in  this  respect.  Many  a  parent, 
before  sending  the  child  away  from  home  to  school,  canvasses 
the  country  over  for  a  proper  and  desirable  institution  where 
the  child  shall  have  all  the  comforts  and  advantages  of  home 
and  culture.  All  the  details  are  inquired  into  with  greatest 
care.  At  last  the  child  reaches  the  school,  and  his  or  her  name 
appears  upon  the  roll  and  is  printed  in  the  catalogue.  These 
catalogues  are  sought  for  by  those  who  send  circulars  through 
the  mails  advertising  obscene  and  unlawful  wares. 

The  obscenity  dealer,  the  quacks,  the  lottery  managers,  and 
the  frauds  all  adopt  the  same  method  of  advertising,  to  wit. 
either  as  above,  or  by  buying  old  letters  from  other  dealers  for 
the  sake  of  the  names,  or  by  sending  circulars  to  postal  clerks 
and  others  through  the  country,  offering  prizes  for  a  list  of  the 
names  of  youth  of  both  sexes  under  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
or  by  purchasing  addressed  envelopes  of  those  who  make  a 
business  of  collecting  names,  and  then  addressing  envelopes  to 
supply  parties  doing  business  through  the  mails.  These  are 
some  of  the  devices  in  vogue  to  secure  names. 

In  one  instance  a  professor  of  a  female  seminary  of  grea 
prominence  informed  me  that  some  party  had  obtained  sur- 
reptitiously of  one  of  his  assistants  some  fifteen  or  more  cata- 
logues of  other  female  seminaries  and  colleges.  After  a  long 
search  I  discovered  the  party,  and  when  I  called  for  the  cata- 
logues he  brought  out  a  pile  of  about  one  hundred  different 
ones,  and  we  selected  the  ones  he  had  borrowed.  I  wrote 
immediately  to  each  of  the  heads  of  these  institutions,  and 
before  the  close  of  that  year  I  received  complaints  from  more 
than  one  half  of  the  number  written  to,  who  had  detected 
noxious  matter  sent  to  the  students.  From  two  of  these  came 
almost  direct  replies,  containing  circulars  of  death-dealing 
articles  of  a  most  infamous  character  sent  to  young  ladies. 
These  are  unfit  for  description.  One  lady  teacher  wrote,  ' '  Not 
must  this  scoundrel  have  the  catalogue  of  the  present,  but 


DEATH  TRAPS  BY  MAIL.  135 

of  the  last  term  as  well,  as  he  has  sent  to  the  graduates  of  last 
term,  besides  sending  to  those  of  the  present." 

These  catalogues  then  are  directories  for  the  venders  of 
obscene  matter,  etc.,  which  furnish  them  the  names  of  our 
boys  and  girls.  Children  have  thrust  upon  them,  unsolicited,  these 
death-traps.  Their  curiosity  is  piqued,  and  unconscious  of 
danger,  they  often  send  for  the  matter  advertised,  simply  to 
gratify  inquisitiveness. 

Let  us  suppose  that  a  boy  who  has  been  brought  up  in  a 
Christian  home  is  thus  placed  at  school,  and  has  one  of  these 
vile  circulars  sent  him  by  mail.  He  has  never  heard  of  this 
matter  before.  His  curiosity  "to  just  see  what  it  is,"  is  the 
first  allurement  of  the  devil.  This  is  made  to  seem  laudable  to 
the  child's  simple  mind.  He  promises  himself  that  he  will  not 
show  it  to  any  one,  he  will  just  see  what  it  is,  and  then  destroy 
it.  He  thus  silences  conscience.  He  sends  the  money  as 
requested  or  directed  on  the  circular.  In  a  few  days  the  cursed 
thing  comes  by  mail.  The  recipient  hies  away  to  his  room  in 
secret,  to  open  it,  to  see  what  it  is.  Conscience  tells  him  he 
is  doing  wrong.  A  sense  of  guilt  and  shame,  a  feeling  that  he 
is  doing  a  mean  thing,  come  over  him  before  the  seal  is  broken. 
He  knows  his  teacher  would  disapprove,  and  that  it  would 
break  his  mother's  heart  if  she  knew  of  it.  As  he  thinks  of 
her  his  first  impulse  is  to  throw  the  package  unopened  in  the 
fire.  Blessed  is  the  boy  who  acts  thus  wisely,  for  he  shall 
escape  a  lasting  curse. 

But  the  tempter  is  watching  intently.  This  momentary  delay 
worries  him.  It  will  not  do  to  loose  his  victim,  when  thus 
almost  in  his  trap,  and  all  that  is  necessary  is  just  a  nibble  at 
his  bait  for  a  sure  capture.  He  whispers,  "Just  look  at  it  a 
moment  so  as  to  see  what  it  is,  and  then  you  can  destroy  it." 
So  urged,  the  boy  breaks  the  seal  and  lets  the  monster  loose. 
The  hideous  appearance  at  first  shocks  the  pure  mind,  and  th? 
poor  victim  would  fain  put  it  out  of  existence.  But  the  tempt 
er  says,  "  It  can't  hurt  you  ;  you  are  strong.  Look  it  over  anc* 
see  what  it  is.  Don' t  be  afraid. ' '  Thus  beguiled,  a  second  look, 


136  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

and  then  a  mighty  force  from  within  is  let  loose,  Passions 
that  had  slumbered  or  lain  dormant  are  awakened,  and  the  boy 
is  forced  over  a  precipice,  and  death  and  destruction  are  sure, 
except  the  grace  of  God  saves  him.  An  indelible  stain  has 
been  placed  upon  the  boy's  imagination,  and  this  vision  shall 
be  kept  like  a  panorama,  moving  to  and  fro  before  his  mind 
until  it  has  blotted  out  moral  purity,  and  the  lamentable  con- 
dition before  described  is  experienced. 

Intemperance  marks  its  victim  by  the  bleared  eye,  bloated 
face,  red  nose,  tainted  breath,  reeling  form,  and  tottering  step. 
The  effects  of  this  evil  are  not  so  easily  discerned.  Its  most 
deadly  effects  are  felt  by  the  victims  in  the  habit  of  secret  vices,  before 
fheir  course  is  marked  by  external  appearances. 

Many  a  parent  sends  away  the  child  pure,  fresh,  and  vigor- 
ous. He  comes  back,  after  a  few  years'  absence,  with  pale 
cheeks,  lustreless  and  sunken  eyes,  enervated  body,  moody, 
nervous,  and  irritable — a  moral  wreck  — and  the  parents  mourn 
' '  that  the  child  has  studied  too  hard. ' '  If  they  could  get  at 
the  real  trouble,  it  would  be  found  that  the  child  had  fallen  into 
one  of  these  lust-traps,  or  death-traps  by  mail.  Habits  thus 
formed  many  a  youth  promises  himself  he  will  check  at  a  cer- 
tain date  ;  that  when  he  is  a  man,  or  twenty-one  years  of  age, 
he  will  stop  his  vicious  practices.  Ah  !  silly  boy,  the  shackles 
of  habit  you  will  never  be  able  to  throw  off  by  your  own 
unaided  strength.  The  longer  indulgence  continues,  the 
weaker  you  become  to  will  and  do  against  the  force  within. 
The  standard  of  self-respect  is  being  constantly  lowered,  and  the 
will  weakened.  The  time  to  stop  is  before  you  begin. 

Where  does  this  evil  exist  ?  Where  are  these  traps  set  ?  I 
reply,  everywhere.  Children  of  all  grades  in  society,  institutions 
of  learning  in  all  sections  of  the  land,  and  the  most  select 
homes,  are  invaded  by  the  evil  of  licentious  literature.  The 
danger  is  not  so  great  as  it  was  ten  years  ago,  as  there  is  not 
so  much  of  this  grossest  business  done  as  in  former  years,  as  the 
tabular  statement  from  the  last  annual  report  of  the  New  York 
Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice  shows,  to  wit  : 


DEATH  TRAPS  BY  MAIL. 


137 


TABULAR  STATEMENT,  showing  a  part  of  the  work  of  the 
New  York  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  from  its 
organization. 


DESCRIPTION. 

Prior  to 
January,  1882. 

1882. 

Total. 

248 
334 
27 

,8? 
251 
i9 
25 

12 
$50,000 

yrs.  mos.  days. 
151      ii      23 
$63i93i 
17 

27,584  Ibs. 
203,238 

7,4oo 
1,700 

3S* 
536 

14,495  Ibs. 
165 
5° 
64,836 
700  Ibs. 

6,122 

4,185 

I>37°,939 
22,354 
105,280 

6,000 

27 
569 

3,4" 

976,125 

4 
173,992  miles. 

10 

108 
8 
8 

30 

22 

I 

3 

258 
44» 
35 
17 
3" 
273 

20 
28 
12 

5 
*53,400 
years,  days. 
'55        13 
$65,256.97 
i? 

S7.5G6  Ibs. 
204,539 

7,400 

1,700 
352 
539 
14,495  Ibs. 

165 
So 
64,836 
700  Ibs. 

6,122 

4,185 
1,376.989 

22,354 

105,461 
6,000 

27 
662 

3,421 

979,010 

4 
190,098  mi  ts. 

Discharged  by  committing  magistrates.  .  .  . 

$2,500 
years,  days. 
3           20 
fi,325-97 

2  Ibs. 
1,301 

Years  of  imprisonment  imposed  
Amount  of  fines  imposed  

STOCK    CONFISCATED. 

Books  and  sheet  stock  seized  and  destroyed. 

Microscopic   pictures  for   charms,  knives, 
etc.           

Negative  plates  for  making  obscene  pho- 

Engraved  steel  and  copper  plates  

3 

Stereotype  plates  for  printing  books,  etc.  .. 

Articles  for  immoral   use,  of  rubber,  etc.  .  . 
Lead  moulds  for  making  obscene  matter  .  . 
Establishments  for  making  same  closed... 
Indecent  playing  cards  destroyed  
Boxes  of  pills,  powders,  etc.,  used  by  abor- 

Circulars,  catalogues,  songs,  poems,  etc.  .. 
Newspapers    containing     unlawful   adver- 
tisements or  obscene  matter  
Open  letters  seized  in  possession  of  persons 

50 

181 

Names  of  dealers  as  revealed  by  account- 

Obscene  pictures,  framed    on  walls  of   sa- 

Figures  and  images  seized  and  destroyed.. 
Letters,  packages,  etc.,  seized  in  hands  of 
dealers  ready  for   mailing  at  the  time  of 
arrest  

93 

Names  and  P.  O.  addresses  to  whom  circu- 
lars, etc.,  may  be  sent,  that  are  sold  as 
matters  of  merchandise,  seized  in  hands 
of  persons  arrested  

2,885 

Obscene  plays  stopped,  or  places  of  amuse- 

Miles  travelled  by  agent  outside  N.Y.  City. 

16,106 

138  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

Many  parents  deceive  themselves  into  the  belief  that  their 
own  children  are  safe.  I  have  had  many  instances  of  this  kind 
in  my  experience  during  the  past  ten  years.  A  boy,  about 
seventeen  years  of  age,  attending  one  of  the  best  public  schools 
in  Brooklyn,  was  discovered  with  one  of  the  vilest  books  in  his 
possession.  He  had  just  been  out  with  his  father  to  dinner  in 
New  York  when  I  interviewed  him.  At  first  he  denied  all 
knowledge  of  any  such  book,  but  I  knew  that  he  had  that  morn- 
ing received  it  from  a  classmate,  to  whom  he  had  loaned  it.  I 
gave  him  his  choice  of  being  arrested  or  producing  the  book. 
He  handed  it  out  of  his  pocket.  After  securing  the  book  I 
took  it  to  the  father,  who  knew  nothing  of  it.  The  kindest 
thing  which  can  be  done  for  a  boy  is  to  show  just  what  he  has 
been  reading,  in  order  that  the  parent  may  counteract  its  evil 
effect  The  father  was  very  indignant,  saying,  "  You  need  not 
tell  me  any  such  stuff  about  my  boy  ;  he  wouldn'  t  look  at  such 
a  book. ' ' 

We  called  the  boy,  and  the  book  was  shown  him,  and  the 
question  asked,  "  Have  you  had  this  book  ?" 

He  replied,  ' '  Yes,  sir. ' ' 

Then  I  asked  him  :   "  Have  you  loaned  it  to  other  boys  ?" 

' '  Yes,  sir, ' '  he  said. 

"  How  long  have  you  had  it  ?" 

"  About  two  weeks,"  he  replied. 

I  traced  this  back  for  more  than  a  year,  to  where  he  and  a 
friend  had  had  it,  up  in  Connecticut,  where  they  had  spent  the 
previous  summer  together. 

This  boy  had  been,  for  weeks  previous  to  my  interview, 
under  a  doctor's  care,  to  whom  this  father  had  taken  him  for 
treatment  for  failing  health. 

In  the  case  of  the  classmate  who  had  returned  him  the  book, 
I  had  the  same  experience  with  the  father,  until  the  boy  con- 
fessed to  having  it,  and  to  reading  it  in  his  room  at  night  after 
going  up-stairs  to  bed. 

These  were  boys  of  most  respectable  parents.  The  first  ran 
away  and .  married  a  servant  girl,  while  the  latter,  at  last 


DEATH  TRAPS  BY  MAIL. 


'39 


reports,  had  left  his  home  and  gone  to  New  York  to  live,  in 
order  to  be  free  from  the  restraints  of  home,  leaving  his  mother 
almost  heart-broken,  anxiously  praying  for  her  lost  boy. 

On  the  same  block  lives  another  young  man  of  equally 
reputable  family,  now  under  the  charge  of  manslaughter  as  the 
result  of  his  unholy  living  ;  he  having  ruined  a  bright  girl,  and 
then  taken  her  to  a  murderess  in  New  York,  where  she  died  a 
most  awful  death. 

In  another  school  I  found  over  one  third  of  a  department  of 
over  fifty  girls  under  fifteen  years  of  age,  who  had,  or  confessed 
to  having  had,  the  grossest  obscenity.  One  of  these,  a  little 
girl  thirteen  years  of  age,  I  found  in  her  home.  She,  in  my 
presence,  went  to  a  bureau  drawer  and  brought  a  sealed  pack- 
age, and  after  opening  it  we  found  a  quantity  of  the  most 
debasing  and  foul-worded  matter.  The  last  heard  from  this 
child  she  was  in  a  dying  condition,  the  result  of  habits  induced 
by  this  foul  reading. 

In  June,  1882,  in  the  town  of  N ,  on  the  Hudson,  a 

principal  of  a  select  boys'  school  discovered  in  a  pocketbook 
left  in  the  desk  of  one  of  the  boys,  whom  with  some  half  dozen 
others  he  had  expelled  for  disorderly  conduct,  an  obscene 
picture.  The  professor  having  moral  courage  above  the  average 
of  many  in  like  positions,  determined  to  have  the  matter  probed  to 
the  bottom,  and  to  discover,  if  possible,  who  of  the  boys,  if  any, 
had  or  had  had  this  matter.  He  sent  for  me.  I  visited  the  school 
building  and  had  an  interview  with  several  of  the  students.  Little 
by  little  I  drew  out  the  facts  that  this  picture  came  out  of  a 
well-known  obscene  book,  and  that  nearly  all  of  the  boys  had 
seen  and  read  this  book,  while  several  of  them  had  other  matter 
of  like  infamous  character  then  in  their  possession,  which  I 
seized.  I  found  the  owner  of  the  book,  and  as  he  was  the 
ringleader  of  the  disorderly  element,  and  was  looked  up  to  by 
all  the  boys  as  a  leader,  I  caused  his  arrest.  He  was  living 
with  an  uncle,  who  is  the  head  of  a  large  manufacturing  estab- 
lishment in  the  Walkill  Valley.  I  went  to  this  uncle's  residence, 
and  found  that  one  of  his  expelled  associates  had  driven  out  to 


140  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

notify  him  that  there  was  an  officer  on  his  trail,  and  hurriedly 

he   had  hitched   up   his  horse  and  driven  into  N a  few 

moments  before  we  arrived.     We  followed,  during  one  of  the 
fiercest  thunder-storms  of  the  season.      It  poured  in  torrents. 

We  reached    N ,  and    judging  that  he  would  put  up  his 

horse  in  some   livery-stable,  we  commenced  a  search  for  the 
horse.     We  soon   found   it,  and    then    waited  till   nearly  ten 
o'clock  P.M.,  when  the  friend  who  had  notified  him  came  for 
the  horse.      From  him  we  discovered  the  whereabouts  of  the 
culprit.      He  was  wrapped  in  the  folds  of  a  cloak  of  rubber, 
and  pacing  along  the  side  of  a  church  waiting  for  his  horse. 
As  the  officer  approached  him,  he  slid  his  right  hand  toward  his 
inside  coat-pocket,   where  afterward  we  found  a  bowie-knife. 
At  the  station-house,  when  asked  what  he  had  that  for,  he  said, 
"  I  heard  I  was  to  have  trouble,  and  so  I  fixed  myself." 

His  companion,  in  driving  out  to  notify  this  young  desperado 
to  flee  from  justice,  had  taken  a  young  miss  of  about  fifteen 
summers  with  him.  He  desired  to  remain  with  his  chum  over 
night,  and  was  accordingly  searched  before  going  into  the  cell 
with  him.  In  his  inside  coat  pocket,  over  his  heart,  and 
nearest  the  young  miss  who  sat  beside  him  in  his  carriage,  was 
a  quantity  of  the  most  obscene  matter.  With  these  were  letters 
from  young  girls,  and  also  from  low  women,  showing  the 
criminal  living  of  this  youth. 

I  asked  one  of  these  expelled  boys  to  tell  me  the  secret  of 
the  disorder  in  the  school  that  had  disgraced  them  so.  He 
replied  that  it  was  this  obscene  matter  and  the  trashy  boys' 
papers  and  stories  of  crime. 

From  the  school  I  found  also  the  same  matter  in  possession 
of  boys  in  the  town  ;  and  then  I  visited  again  the  manufactory 
in  the  valley,  to  find  the  same  kind  of  obscene  matter  there  in 
the  hands  of  youth.  From  there  I  went  to  New  York,  and  in 
Wall  Street  I  found  a  boy  about  twenty  years  of  age,  who  had 
twenty  varieties  of  the  most  debauching  matter  in  his  pockets. 
This  lad  was  a  minister's  son.  I  talked  with  his  father  before 
seeing  his  boy,  and  he  told  me  that  this  son  was  the  only  one 


DEATH  TRAPS  BY  MAIL.  141 

of  seven  children  who  was  not  converted  to  God.  He  had 
never  suspected  the  reason  why,  although  the  expression  of  the 
lad's  face  spoke  plainly  of  dissipation. 

In  another  school  of  about  100  boys  in  New  York,  I  found 
one  afternoon  sixteen  lads  with  the  vilest  pictures  and  leaflets 
in  their  possession  or  where  they  had  had  them. 

In  a  college  which  I  visited  in  Pennsylvania,  I  discovered  a 
number  of  boys  in  different  departments  with  the  most  filthy 
matter  in  hand.  The  same  day  I  learned  from  the  principal  of 
the  girls'  high  school  that  the  same  matter  had  been  found  in 
the  possession  of  several  girls,  and  that  six  had  been  expelled, 
others  suspended,  while  others  had  been  severely  reprimanded. 

Add  to  the  above  instances  the  long  list  of  others  of  similar 
purport,  covering  a  period  of  ten  years,  and  you  have  some  of 
the  reasons  why  the  work  of  suppressing  these  evils  has  been 
rigorously  maintained,  and  weighty  arguments  why  it  must  be 
continued,  and  the  efforts  sustained  morally  and  financially. 

To  say  that  twenty-five  tons  weight  of  contraband  matter  has 
been  seized  by  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  while 
it  sums  up  the  facts,  does  not  present  to  the  ordinary  mind  the 
fearful  magnitude  of  this  evil. 

In  1872,  when  the  work  of  extermination  against  this  evil 
commenced,  there  were  165  different  books  published  in  New 
York  and  Brooklyn.  Numerous  establishments  were  in  full 
blast,  turning  out  obscene  pictures  and  articles  for  indecent  pur- 
poses, and  of  the  vilest  character.  In  all  the  so-called  sporting 
papers,  in  many  otherwise  respectable  weekly  journals,  in  the 
daily,  and  sometimes  covertly  in  the  religious  papers,  these  foul 
articles  and  things  were  advertised.  According  to  the  account- 
books  of  the  publishers  and  manufacturers  seized  by  the  above 
society,  there  were  about  4000  dealers  scattered  throughout  the 
country.  These  supplied  themselves  from  the  headquarters  for 
the  production  of  these  nefarious  goods  in  New  York  and 
Brooklyn.  All  the  known  manufactories  and  publishing  houses 
of  these  obscene  articles  have  been  closed.  The  plates  for  print- 
ing and  illustrating  163  of  the  165  books  have  been  seized  and 


142  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

destroyed,  and  there  is  the  best  of  evidence  that  the  owner  sup- 
pressed the  other  two  from  fear.  A  vigilant  watch  is  kept  to 
discover  any  new  enterprises.  There  are  traces  of  the  old  stock, 
and  this  is  supplemented  by  leaflets,  poems,  songs,  doggerel, 
and  other  cheap  forms  of  nastiness,  at  the  present  time.  Here 
and  there  some  amateur  printer  or  clerk  in  a  printing  establish- 
ment issues  a  small  lot  of  vileness,  but  the  immense  stock-in- 
trade  formerly  carried  by  dealers  no  longer  exists.  Many  now 
have  taken  to  writing  out  copies  of  this  old  matter.  I  arrested 
a  young  man  away  up  in  Maine,  who,  living  on  a  farm,  adver- 
tised in  some  of  the  papers,  and  then  for  $i  would  copy  and 
send  by  mail  a  four-page  note-sheet  of  this  filth. 

Of  twenty  varieties  recently  seized,  all  but  one  or  two  were 
copies  in  writing  from  old  printed  matter. 

Night  and  day  this  evil  has  been  pursued  by  the  agents  of 
the  society  referred  to  in  this  chapter.  Eternal  vigilance  is  the 
price  of  moral  purity.  Let  the  efforts  of  this  society  be  relaxed, 
or  allow  it  to  be  known  that  its  efforts  will  cease,  and  there  are 
hundreds  of  villains  ready  to  embark  in  this  soul-destroying 
business. 

Parents  and  teachers  must  watch  for  these  traps.  Evil  things 
may  be  found  lurking  in  pocket,  desk,  and  private  box  of  the 
child  ;  they  cannot  bear  the  light  of  day.  In  one  instance,  the 
writer  sent  a  little  girl  home  from  school  to  get  her  geography, 
where  she  had  secreted  some  of  this  vile  stuff.  A  bright  boy 
of  about  fifteen  years  of  age  had  some  of  this  vile  matter  locked 
in  a  box  with  the  Bible  given  him  by  his  deceased  mother. 
The  usual  place  where  the  youth  keeps  it  is  the  sanctum  of  the 
pocket.  Here  he  carries  it,  because  he  knows  where  it  is,  and 
always  has  it  at  hand  to  look  at,  when  opportunity  offers,  or  to 
show  to  some  trusty  companion  whom  he  meets. 

Let  all  persons  who  discover  traces  of  these  evils  send  all  the 
facts  to  the  writer.  The  name  of  the  child  is  always  considered 
sacred.  While  vigorous  efforts  to  discover  the  facts  will  be 
made,  yet  respect  to  the  good  name  of  the  child,  family,  and 
school  is  always  observed. 


DEATH   TRAPS  BY  MAIL.  143 

Again,  there  is  required  a  public  sentiment  that  shall  force 
officials  to  do  their  duty.  The  outrages  perpetrated  by  some 
judges  are  of  a  character  that  encourage  rather  than  discourage 
this  cursed  traffic.  Here  is  a  crime  worse  than  highway  rob- 
bery, burglary,  or  any  felony  known  to  the  law.  It  is  moral 
assassination  and  spiritual  death  to  the  young.  Notwithstand- 
ing this,  there  are  persons,  occupying  positions  as  judges  and 
clothed  with  power  to  execute  the  laws,  who  virtually  ignore 
the  evil  and  condone  these  crimes.  For  instance,  a  short  time 
ago,  in  Philadelphia,  a  man  who  pleaded  "  guilty"  to  stealing 
thirty-eight  cents  from  a  boy  on  the  highway  was  sentenced  to 
five  years'  solitary  confinement,  while  a  man  who  had  been  for 
the  third  time  convicted  of  selling  the  most  obscene  books  and 
pictures  (and  doing  this  in  a  store  where  school  children  came 
for  books,  paper,  pencils,  slates,  and  candies)  was  let  off  the 
same  day  by  the  same  judge  with  three  months'  imprisonment. 
This  outrage  I  witnessed.  Which  is  of  more  importance,  the 
spending  money  given  the  child,  or  its  moral  purity  ? 

Another  instance,  recently  reported  by  R.  W.  McAffee, 
agent  of  the  Western  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice  in  St. 
Louis,  was  of  a  man  indicted  for  selling  obscene  matter,  and 
who  it  was  in  evidence  had  distributed  about  18,000  circulars 
of  a  most  indecent  character,  who  was  let  off  on  his  plea  of 
"  guilty"  with  a  fine  of  $30,  while  a  woman  who  had  harbored 
a  little  dog  for  about  two  hours,  which  ran  into  her  house, 
was  imprisoned  for  five  months. 

The  young  desperado  in  the  town  of  N ,  who  had  for 

months  polluted  his  associates,  cursing  many  bright  boys  for 
life  by  loaning  the  vilest  matter,  after  pleading  ' '  guilty' '  was 
let  off  with  a  suspended  sentence  by  a  recorder  who  knew  all 
these  facts. 

Again,  in  Philadelphia,  in  the  United  States  Court,  Judge 
Butler  directed  a  jury,  who  were  sworn  to  decide  the  case  according 
to  the  evidence,  and  after  it  had  been  clearly  proven  that  a  package 
containing  sixty  of  the  most  obscene  leaflets,  or  songs,  had 
been  sent  by  the  prisoner  to  a  student  in  a  college,  to  return  a 


144  TRAPS  FOR    THE    YOUNG. 

verdict  of  "  not  guilty;"  and,  on  account  of  the  prisoner's  age, 
reprimanded  the  officer  because  he  had  faithfully  performed  his 
duty  by  arresting  the  young  villain.  We  offered  to  show  that 
this  same  matter  had  been  sent  by  mail  to  the  girls'  high  school 
as  well  as  to  the  students  in  the  college  in  the  same  city.  It 
was  also  in  evidence  that  this  lad  had  for  several  months  been 
engaged  in  this  business,  that  he  had  secretly  printed  several 
varieties,  unbeknown  to  his  employer,  in  his  employer's  estab- 
lishment, and  had  for  months  supplied  his  associates  with  them. 
Notwithstanding  all  this,  a  verdict  of  ' '  not  guilty ' '  was  ordered 
by  the  court,  after  the  case  was  absolutely  proven,  and  the  pris- 
oner was  discharged,  thus  encouraged  to  continue  his  nefarious 
traffic  in  a  still  more  secret  and  extensive  manner. 

This  lad  was  about  seventeen  years  of  age.  And  I  submit 
that  where  a  boy  is  old  enough  to  debauch  the  youth  in  two 
institutions  of  learning,  curse  them  in  the  community  where 
he  lives,  set  up  and  print  the  matter  for  months,  and  not  be 
detected — when  at  last  he  is  run  down  by  the  officer  of  the 
law,  he  is  old  enough  to  be  legally  and  properly  punished  for 
his  crimes.  What  avails  the  oath  of  a  juror  when  he  swears  to 
do  one  thing  and  then  violates  that  oath  by  not  doing  it  ? 
There  was  no  question  of  law  raised  before  that  jury.  Their 
duty  was  "  to  decide  according  to  the  evidence,"  and  as  the 
counsel  for  defence  conceded  the  sending  of  these  vile  things 
by  mail,  there  was  no  question  of  law  or  evidence  that  justified 
a  verdict  of  "  not  guilty."  The  welfare  of  the  community  is 
endangered  when  justice  is  administered  as  above.  If  a  judge 
may  order  a  verdict  of  "  not  guilty"  when  a  case  is  fully 
proven,  and  no  law  point  presents  itself,  then  there  is  no  safety 
for  any  citizen,  for  by  the  same  token  may  he  order  a  verdict  of 
"  guilty"  when  no  evidence  exists  of  guilt. 

I  submit,  with  great  respect  and  firmness,  that  the  proper  thing 
when  a  case  is  clearly  proven  is  a  verdict  of  guilty,  by  the  jury, 
and  then,  if  the  judge  finds  mitigating  circumstances,  it  is  his 
province  to  suspend  sentence  or  impose  a  light  penalty. 

What  we  want  is  that  these  laws  shall  be  stringently  enforced. 


DEATH  TRAPS  BY  MAIL.  145 

If  the  highwayman  deserves  five  years,  the  corrupters  of  our 
youth  merit  double  that  sentence. 

When  parents,  from  the  marks  of  dissipation  or  otherwise, 
have  reason  to  suspect  the  vicious  practice  of  the  child,  it  is 
their  duty  to  set  aside  all  feelings  of  false  modesty  and  win  that 
child's  confidence,  and  help  apply  a  remedy.  Let  a  physician 
of  known  character  and  ability  be  consulted.  By  so  doing  the 
child  may  be  saved,  otherwise  the  meshes  of  the  hunter's  snare 
shall  be  woven  closer  and  the  chains  of  habit  forged  more  firmly 
on  the  victim,  until  there  is  no  escape  from  the  most  loathsome 
and  soul-destroying  practices. 

It  is  a  painful  and  disgusting  subject  to  consider.  Many  are 
liable  to  misinterpret  and  misjudge  the  writer's  meaning  and 
motives.  Be  that  as  it  may,  parents  and  teachers,  the  note  of 
warning  is  designed  to  be  sounded  by  these  pages.  No  uncer- 
tain sound  is  intended,  but  a  clear,  full,  plain,  practical  chorus 
of  warnings  is  designed  to  be  rung  over  the  land.  Save  the 
young  !  Save  the  young  from  these  devil- traps. 

A  word  to  teachers. 

No  institution  of  learning  ought  to  furnish  these  scoundrels 
a  directory  of  the  names  of  their  students. 

None  should  be  printed  while  this  danger  exists. 

Again,  in  boarding-schools  all  mail  matter  should  be  sent  to 
the  school  building  and  delivered  in  presence  of  the  principal 
or  some  wise  and  trusty  assistant.  All  suspicious  letters  and 
packages — when  there  are  a  number  evidently  from  the  same 
source,  or  when  the  handwriting  is  unknown  to  the  recipient — 
should  be  opened  in  the  presence  of  the  principal,  and  if  un- 
lawful, the  matter  should  not  be  allowed  to  go  before  the 
child's  mind  to  pollute  it,  but  destroyed  or  sent  to  the  parent, 
with  a  request  that  it  be  sent  to  the  writer  of  this  book,  that  the 
insult  offered  the  child  and  institution  may  be  resented  by 
bringing  the  offender  to  justice. 

Parents  should  request  this  much  of  teachers.  If  the  teacher 
is  to  be  trusted  at  all,  it  ought  to  be  in  a  matter  involving  the 
moral  purity  of  the  child. 


146  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

One  device  of  those  sending  out  circulars  to  youth  in  these 
institutions  is,  to  send  no  two  envelopes  of  the  same  color. 
I  have  often  seized,  in  possession  of  persons  I  have  arrest- 
ed, packages  of  twenty-five  envelopes,  all  differing  in  size  or 
color. 

Again,  parties  doing  this  kind  of  business  through  the  mails, 
in  order  to  allay  suspicion,  disguise  the  handwriting,  so  that  the 
addresses  will  not  be  similar. 

Another  device  to  blind  the  eyes  of  teachers  is  to  have  differ- 
ent post-marks.  This  is  done  by  mailing  at  different  post- 
offices.  For  instance,  the  scoundrel  who  a  few  years  ago 
stabbed  me  had  sixteen  different  post-offices  through  which  he 
did  business.  He  would  post,  as  do  other  dealers  living  in  New 
York,  a  part  of  his  mail  in  that  city,  a  part  in  Brooklyn, 
Williamsburgh,  Jersey  City,  or  at  any  of  the  post-offices  in 
adjoining  towns. 

The  following  were  the  aliases  of  Charles  Conroy,  who  is  the 
one  referred  to  as  my  would-be  assassin,  and  will  illustrate  the 
practice — to  wit  :  C.  L.  Dexter,  Chambers  Street,  New  York  ; 
C.  L.  Taylor,  Brooklyn,  N.  Y.  ;  William  Colby,  Stapleton, 
Staten  Island  ;  Matthew  C.  Hart,  Newton,  Staten  Island  ;  R. 
Carleton  and  R.  Carleton  &  Co.,  Port  Richmond,  Staten 
Island  ;  Gregory  Durphy,  New  Brighton,  Staten  Island  ;  Louis 
Lubin,  Greenpoint,  L.  I.  ;  V.  Scribner,  Flushing,  L.  I.  ;  M. 
Depau,  Hoboken,  N.  J. ;  John  R.  Scott,  Hudson  City,  N.  J.  ; 
G.  Marsh,  G.  Marsh  &  Co.,  Jersey  City,  N.  J.  ;  N.  F.  Kirke, 
Newark,  N.  J.  ;  J.  K.  Appleton,  Bergen  Point,  N.  J. ;  E. 
Manning,  Elizabeth,  N.  J.  ;  W.  J.  Evans,  Trenton,  N.  J.  ; 
L.  M.  Burt,  Long  Island  City,  L.  I.  ;  C.  D.  Cook,  Morris- 
ania,  N.  Y. 

When  we  consider  the  safety  of  our  youth  and  the  dangers 
of  this  blight  and  curse  to  them,  we  are  almost  ready  to  adopt 
the  practice  of  the  Roman  Catholics,  who  in  their  schools  and 
colleges  require  all  letters  to  be  opened  in  the  presence  of 
priest  or  teacher. 

Certain  it  is,  a  greater  vigilance  than  has  been  before  mani- 


DEATH  TRAPS  BY  MAIL.  147 

fested  is  required,  in  many  instances,  to  stay  this  iniquitous 
traffic. 

The  morals  of  our  youth  first,  conventionalities  afterward. 
These  foul  publications,  as  has  been  seen,  breed  lust.  Lust 
brings  disease,  weaknesses,  and  suffering. 

Sailing  in  the  wake  of  these,  in  a  bark  of  false  pretences, 
blackmail,  and  lies,  comes  the  quack,  whom  we  consider  in  his 
natural  order  next 


CHAPTER  IX. 

QUACK     TRAPS. 

THERE  is  nothing  among  beasts,  birds,  or  reptiles  to  which 
this  particular  agency  can  be  likened.  It  resembles  some  of 
the  characteristics  of  the  buzzard  and  vulture,  in  that  it  feeds 
upon  carrion.  As  these  foul  birds  hover  over  the  putrid  carcass 
of  some  animal,  and  descend  to  feast  upon  it,  so  these  loath- 
some creatures  hover  about  our  homes,  throwing  their  filthy  and 
disgusting  advertisements  in  at  our  doors,  where  they  shall  fall 
into  the  hands  of  youth  who  may  perchance  have  been  led 
into  vicious  practices,  in  order  to  entice  them  into  the  net 
which  they  have  spread  to  rob  them.  The  quacks  live  and 
thrive  on  the  weaknesses  of  humanity. 

The  leech,  when  applied  to  a  diseased  part,  clings  closely, 
sucking  out  the  blood,  and  helps  a  cure.  These  frauds  seek  out 
those  who  have  weaknesses  to  contend  against — often  inherited 
— and  by  a  system  of  lying  advertisements  endeavor  to  terrify 
our  youth  into  rushing  to  them  for  advice  and  cure.  They  will 
cling  to  their  victim,  sometimes  by  cunning  and  sometimes  by 
threats,  until  they  extort  the  last  dollar. 

In  one  familiar  with  the  methods  practised  there  is  awakened 
.such  a  feeling  of  contempt  and  abhorrence  for  these  ghouls 
that  it  seems  as  though,  if  lynch  law  were  ever  justified,  it  is  in 
these  cases.  They  are  heartless  as  hyenas.  That  ferocious 
animal  acts  out  its  own  nature  when  it  devours  its  prey.  But 
here  we  have  a  class  who  shock  decency  by  their  vile  circulars 
and  pamphlets  thrust  into  our  homes,  while  they  take  advan- 
tage of  the  diseased  and  helpless  condition  of  their  fellow- 
beings,  gaining  their  confidence  by  false  pretences,  and  then, 
turning  upon  them,  give  in  return  for  money  extorted  by  this 


QUACK    TRAPS.  149 

system  of  lies    that  which   aggravates  disease  and   intensifies 
suffering. 

To  approach  youth  who  by  evil  communications  have  been 
led  into  the  vile  practices  which  are  so  prevalent  to-day, 
especially  when  their  minds  are  unsettled  and  disturbed,  and 
to  misrepresent  and  lie  as  to  their  true  condition,  in  order  to 
extort  from  them  a  fee  for  services,  is  both  dishonest  and  cruel. 
It  is  one  of  the  great  wrongs  of  the  day.  The  State  of  Penn- 
sylvania has  a  law  prohibiting  the  advertising  of  any  such  nos- 
trums, as  follows  : 

"  (7)    PUBLICATION    OF    NOSTRUMS. 

"  75.  It  shall  not  be  lawful  to  print  or  publish  advertisements 
of  medicines,  drugs,  nostrums,  or  apparatus  for  the  cure  of 
secret  or  venereal  diseases,  or  for  the  cure  of  those  diseases 
peculiarly  appertaining  to  females,  and  if  any  person  shall  print 
or  publish,  or  procure  to  be  printed  or  published,  in  any  news- 
paper in  this  State,  any  advertisement  of  medicines,  drugs,  or 
nostrums,  or  apparatus  for  the  cure  of  secret  or  venereal 
diseases,  or  for  the  cure  of  those  diseases  peculiarly  appertaining 
to  females,  or  shall,  by  printing  or  writing,  or  in  any  other 
way,  publish  an  account  or  description  of  such  medicines, 
drugs,  nostrums,  or  apparatus,  or  shall  procure  the  same  to  be 
published  or  written,  or  in  any  other  way  published,  or  shall 
circulate  or  distribute  any  such  newspaper  advertisement,  writ- 
ing, or  publication,  every  such  person  so  offending  shall  be 
guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  shall,  upon  conviction  thereof, 
be  fined  in  any  sum  not  exceeding  one  thousand  dollars,  or  be 
imprisoned  in  the  county  jail  not  exceeding  six  months,  or 
both,  at  the  discretion  of  the  court." 

This  is  well,  but  it  would  be  better  if  it  were  not  a  dead  letter 
in  that  State.  No  Legislature  can  bass  a  more  wholesome  act  or 
do  a  kinder  deed  to  those  misguided  youth  who  are  to-day  the 
victims  of  secret  sins,  than  to  copy  this  law,  and  after  passing 
it  see  that  it  is  rigorously  enforced. 

I  am  quite  familiar  with  the  methods  of  this  horde  of  pre- 
tenders who  are  thus  preying  on  the  sick  and  suffering.  From 


150  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

the  highest,  with  their  bogus  medical  institutes,  down  to  the 
lowest,  who  add  "  Reverend  "  to  their  filthy  advertisements  to 
make  them  more  taking,  I  would  caution  one  and  all  to  give 
them  a  wide  berth.  These  circulars  and  advertisements,  in  the 
main,  are  as  false  as  they  are  indecent.  By  grossest  mis- 
representations they  frighten  weak-minded  youth — especially 
those  suffering  from  evil  habits,  aggravating  their  ailment  and 
torturing  their  minds. 

The  more  powerful  of  this  class  have  their  museums  of  anat- 
omy. These  are  open  for  the  public  at  a  low  price  for  admis- 
sion. They  usually  occupy  a  prominent  place  on  some 
crowded  thoroughfare,  where  a  high  rent  is  required.  What  is 
their  real  secret  of  success  ?  How  is  it  that  they  can  pay  high 
rents,  employ  numerous  assistants,  and  that  the  principals  in  a 
few  years  acquire  great  wealth  ? 

The  different  subjects  exhibited  are  in  some  cases  but  the 
introduction  to  a  lecture  hall,  run  in  connection  therewith,  and 
these  lectures  are  little  better  than  blackmailing  enterprises. 
Youth  listen,  conscious  that  they  have  started  on  the  downward 
course ;  from  what  they  hear  many  of  them  come  to  think  that 
an  early  grave  awaits  them,  unless  they  apply  to  this  wonderful 
lecturer.  His  effort  is  to  convince  his  hearers  that  although  all 
other  physicians  have  failed,  he  possesses  the  panacea  for  every 
ill.  He  ' '  guarantees  a  cure. "  "  The  utmost  secrecy  is 
pledged."  "  All  can  confide  in  him."  Under  the  pretence 
of  making  a  diagnosis  of  the  case,  the  real  name  and  those  of 
the  parents  and  other  connections  are  ascertained.  These  are 
entered  in  a  book,  and  then  they  pledge  themselves  to  effect  a 
permanent  cure  for  so  many  dollars  per  week  paid  in  advance. 
Then  the  exaggerations  of  the  printed  advertisement  or  the 
statements  in  the  lecture  are  added  to,  until  the  victim  is  made 
to  believe  that  he  has  come  "just  in  time,"  or  has  "  delayed  too 
long. ' '  The  ' '  too  long' '  statement  usually  comes  in  after  the 
first  or  second  visit,  when,  after  the  first  nostrum  has  effected 
no  improvement,  and  has,  as  is  often  the  fact,  made  the  poor 
sufferer  worse,  he  is  informed  that  "  a  stronger  remedy  is 


QUACK    TRAPS.  151 

necessary, ' '  and  ' '  this  kind  costs  about  double  the  price  of  the 
first  kind. 

In  one  instance  brought  to  the  writer's  attention,  the  head 
of  one  of  these  bogus  institutes  prescribed  gentian  root  for  all 
diseases.  This  harmless  prescription  would  be  sold  at  from 
$15  to  $100  per  week,  just  according  to  the  quack's  ability  to 
extort  and  the  victim's  capacity  to  pay. 

One  institution  of  this  character,  suppressed  by  the  writer, 
received  an  annual  income  of  about  $30,000. 

Another  case  :  A  young  man  was  about  to  be  married,  and 
imagined  something  wrong  with  himself.  He  applied  to  one 
of  these  men  on  Broadway,  who  frightened  him  into  believing 
he  had  not  long  to  live,  but  that  he  could  be  cured  if  he  could 
pay  the  price.  His  "  remedies  were  very  expensive,"  on 
account  of  their  intrinsic  value,  and  the  "great  difficulty  in 
securing  them,"  the  "  demand  was  so  great."  The  young 
man  was  swindled  out  of  over  $200  cash,  and  gave  his  note  for 
$1500  more. 

Another  instance,  which  seems  almost  incredible,  was  that  of 
a  young  man  in  New  Jersey,  who  fell  a  victim  to  vicious  prac- 
tices while  young.  He  went  to  one  of  these  men,  and  was 
blackmailed,  under  the  threat  of  exposure  to  his  friends,  out  of 
over  $50,000.  He  was  wealthy,  and  paid  rather  than  have  his 
friends  know  of  his  shame.  And  here  is  the  strong  hold  of 
these  vampires.  They  get  the  name  and  confession  of  the  vic- 
tim, and  then,  after  the  contract  to  cure  for  so  much  a  week 
fails,  come  terrorism  and  blackmail. 

There  are  two  parties  advertising  as  "  returned  missionaries." 
They  proclaim  themselves  as  nearly  ruined,  and  their  pre- 
scription and  circular,  together  with  the  history  which  they  print 
of  themselves,  are  so  alike  that  they  must  be  "  twins."  A  few 
extracts  from  each  circular,  as  issued  by  these  ' '  reverend ' ' 
frauds,  will  be  of  interest.  They  at  the  same  time  illustrate 
the  absolute  fraud  perpetrated  by  these  vampires  upon  those 
who  need  most  considerate  and  scientific  treatment. 

The  following  are  taken  from  a  four- page  circular  issued  by 


152  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

them.  Let  the  reader  compare  them,  and  then  choose  foi  him- 
self which  is  worthier  of  the  penitentiary.  The  former  is  signed 
"Joseph  T.  Inman,  Station  D,  New  York";  the  latter,  "  F. 
C.  Fowler,  Middletown,  Conn." 

Inman  says  :  Fowler  says : 

Recipe.  Recipe. 

Extract  of  Corassa  Apimis 8  drachms.  Extract  of  Hydrastis 8  drachm*. 

Ex.  of  Selarmo  Umbellifera. .  4  drachms.  Extract  of  Latifolia  Herbalis..6  drachms. 

Powdered  Alkeimes  Latifolia.  .3  drachms.  Powdered  Selarmo  Apimis 4  drachms. 

Extract  of  Carsadoe  Herbalis . . 6  drachms.  Ex.  of  Alkermes  Umbellifera  .  .6  drachms. 

The  fraud  is  patent  if  the  reader  will  take  Inman' s 
"alkermes"  in  the  third  line  and  his  "  umbellifera"  in  the 
38cond,  and  compare  it  with  Fowler's  fourth  line.  Note  other 
transformations  of  the  same  type. 

Inman  says  :  Fowler  says  : 

"Mix  well  in  a   mortar,  then  put  the  "Mix  well  together  in  a  mortar,  then 

mixture  in  a  box  and  keep  it  covered,  or  put  the   mixture  in   a  box  and    keep   it 

wrap  it  in  a  paper  and  cover  with  tinfoil,  covered  well   to  exclude  the  air.     For  a 

to  exclude  the  air.     For  a  dose,  take  about  dose,  take  about  half  a  teaspoonful  of  the 

half  a   teaspoonful  of   the   mixture,   and  mixture,  and  moisten  it  with  a  little  cold 

moisten  it  with   a  little   cold  water  in  a  water  in  a  glass  or  cup,  then  add  about 

glass  or  cup,  then  add  about  two  table-  two  tablespoonfuls  more  of  cold  water,  or 

spoonfuls   more    of   cold    water,    or    just  just  enough  to  enable  you  to  take  it  down 

enough   to   enable  you   to  take   it   down  easily. 

easily.     ...  "  This  remedy  from  South  America  (the 

"  This  remedy  from  South  America  (the  land  of  medicines)  is  entirely  a  product 

land  of  medicines)   is  entirely  a  product  of  the  vegetable  world, 
of  the  vegetable  world. 

"  How  I  discovered  the  Corassa  com-  "  How  I  discovered  the  Hydrastis  com- 
pound." pound." 

These  two  parties,  if  their  own  statements  are  to  be  believed, 
and  they  are  just  alike  on  the  subject,  both  acquired  vicious 
habits  while  at  college.  They  tell  a  mournful  tale  of  what 
befell  them,  and  then  both  fell  in  love  in  precisely  the  same 
manner.  It  is  really  quite  funny  that  two  persons,  entire 
strangers,  should  by  a  strange  coincidence  have  the  same 
experiences,  state  them  in  the  same  language,  and  yet  know 
nothing  of  one  another.  It  was  not  a  time  of  telegraphs,  tele- 
phones, and  railroads,  it  is  presumed,  when  they  were  in  South 
America. 


QUACK   TRAPS.  153 

Inman  says,  speaking  of  his  leaving  col-  Fowler  says,  speaking  of  the  same  expe« 

lege  :  rience : 

"My  grief  was  more  deep,  as  I  had  "My  grief  was  more  deep,  as  I  had 

formed  an  attachment  for  an  accomplished  formed  an  attachment  for  an  accomplished 

and  amiable  young  lady,  who  returned  my  and  amiable  young  lady,  who  returned  my 

affections ;  but  marriage  was  not  to  be  affections ;  but  marriage  was  not  to  be 

thought  of  by  me,  as  my  state  of  health  thought  of  by  me,  as  my  state  of  health 

would  make  me  but  a  miserable  companion  would  make  me  but  a  miserable  companion 

foi  a  gentle  and  loving  woman."  for  a  gentle  and  loving  woman." 

Then  both  "go  to  Europe"  with  a  "view  to  consult  the 
best  medical  men  of  London  and  Paris."  Both  reside  exactly 
"  two  years  in  Europe,"  devoting  nearly  all  the  time  "  health 
would  permit,  to  the  study  of  medicine." 

They  both  leave  Europe  on  charity,  as  witnesseth  their  own 
words. 

Inman  says :  Fowler  says  precisely  the  same. 

"  Through  the  kindness  of  some  Chris- 
tian friends  in  London,  I  was  offered  the 
position  of  a  missionary  to  Para,  South 
America,  where  a  station  was  established 
by  the  London  Missionary  Society,  for  the 
diffusion  of  the  Gospel  throughout  the 
great  valley  of  the  Amazon  and  its  tribu- 
taries." 

Wonderful  to  state,  both  sailed  ' '  from  Liverpool  in  the  ship 
Reindeer,  Captain  R.  I.  Marsh,  for  Para." 

These  circulars  I  have  quoted  to  show  the  absurdity,  the 
preposterous  impudence,  of  these  creatures  who  prey  upon  the 
sick  and  suffering. 

Those  are  deceived  who  oftentimes  require  but  a  simple  treat- 
ment to  relieve  their  trouble.  The  nostrums  advertised  under 
such  lies  as  abound  in  these  and'  similar  circulars,  deceive  and 
defraud.  The  articles  named  do  not  exist.  They  are  not 
known  by  the  most  celebrated  pharmacists  in  the  country. 
But  high-sounding  words  take  the  best.  The  veil  of  mystery 
lends  a  charm  and  enhances  the  apparent  value  of  any  article. 

These  frauds  are  much  like  an  anaconda,  which  covers  its 
victim  with  slime  and  saliva  before  devouring  it.  It  is  such 
slimy  circulars  as  those  from  which  the  above  extracts  are  made, 


154  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

that  the  quack  uses  to  bedaub  the  mind  of  his  victims,  that 
he  may  get  absolute  control  over  them.  He  takes  advantage 
of  that  terrible  condition  which  reaches  out  in  all  directions  for 
a  cure,  anxiously  catching  at  anything  that  has  a  ray  of  hope 
in  it.  Surely  the  word  of  a  missionary — one  whom  we  all  re- 
spect and  revere  for  the  self-denial  and  heroism  of  his  class — is 
to  be  taken  without  discount.  ' '  Anything  to  be  well, ' '  is 
the  plaintive  cry,  and  so  they  fall  easy  victims  to  the  most  con- 
temptible of  all  frauds — the  quack. 

Fathers  and  mothers,  look  into  your  child's  face,  and  when 
you  see  the  vigor  of  youth  failing,  the  cheek  growing  pale, 
the  eye  lustreless  and  sunken,  the  step  listless  and  faltering,  the 
body  enervated,  and  the  desire  to  be  much  alone  coming  over 
your  offspring ;  when  close  application  to  work  or  study 
becomes  irksome,  and  the  buoyancy  of  youth  gives  place  to 
peevishness  and  irritability,  then  seriously  look  for  a  cause.  It 
may  not  always  be  the  case,  but  in  many  instances  it  will  be 
found  to  come  from  secret  practices,  which  have  early  in  life 
sapped  the  health  of  mind  and  body. 

An  eminent  professor  in  a  Southern  college,  in  writing  to 
me  a  short  time  ago,  said  :  "  I  am  forced  to  the  belief  that 
seventy-five  if  not  ninety  per  cent  of  our  young  men  are  victims 
of  self- abuse. ' ' 

Is  not  this  awful  curse  to  the  young  prevalent  enough  to 
command  a  remedy  ?  to  call  for  attention  from  parents  ?  Go 
to  the  insane  asylums  and  epileptic  hospitals  for  a  reply.  Our 
youth  are  falling  on  every  side.  Lives  that  otherwise  might 
shine  as  the  stars  in  the  firmament  are  shrouded  with  a  veil  of 
darkness,  with  horrors  to  the  victim's  mind  which  no  pen  can 
describe. 

Along  this  same  line  come  the  ante-natal  murderers  and 
murderesses.  Safeguards  set  by  God  and  nature  are  broken 
down,  and  promised  ' '  security' '  or  "  relief  from  trouble' '  were 
formerly  advertised  publicly.  This  is  now  too  dangerous  to 
admit  of  publicity,  as  more  than  sixty  of  these  wretches  have 
been  arrested  and  imprisoned  or  fined,  through  the  efforts  of 


QUACK   TRAPS.  155 

the  New  York  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice.  The  busi- 
ness now  is  carried  on  secretly. 

The  gilded  palace  built  and  embellished  by  the  crime  of 
women,  on  Fifth  Avenue,  New  York,  now  stands  as  a  monu- 
ment to  the  hundreds  of  young  lives  offered  up  within  its  pre- 
cincts, while  the  murderess,  when  she  found  herself  arrested  by 
an  agency  she  could  not  bribe  nor  frighten,  confessed  judgment, 
and  then  passed  sentence  of  death  upon  herself,  and  with  her 
own  hand  executed  the  decree.  Many  a  woman,  unless  lost 
to  all  self-respect,  must  shudder  as  she  passes  this  monument 
of  infamy. 

The  large  number  of  so  called  respectable  women  with  their 
long  line  of  carriages  which  formerly  deposited  their  occupants 
at  the  side  basement  door  of  this  murderous  den  have  passed 
with  their  secrets  into  history,  while  the  fortune  to  which  they 
contributed  is  being  spent  by  those  who  had  little  or  nothing 
to  do  with  its  accumulation.  For  years  this  iniquitious  busi- 
ness was  winked  at  by  the  police,  while  hundreds  of  thousands 
of  dollars  were  gathered  together  by  an  ignorant  woman — the 
price  of  hidden  shame.  Maiden  virtue  was  of  no  account,  but 
nostrums  were  openly  advertised  as  for  sale  at  this  place,  by 
one  or  more  newspapers,  to  help  the  rake  and  libertine  destroy 
the  fairest  in  the  land. 

In  former  days,  and  occasionally  now,  the  dealer  in  obscene 
literature  advertised,  as  part  of  his  business,  these  death- dealing 
and  shameful  articles.  While  books  and  pictures  defile  the 
mind  and  excite  the  passions,  these  provide  the  means  for  most 
vile  practices.  Three  factories,  where  abominations  that  would 
put  to  shame  Sodom  and  Gomorrah  were  made,  have  been 
raided  and  closed,  while  moulds  and  stock  have  been  seized  and 
destroyed. 

In  this  connection  might  be  named  another  scheme  to  make 
easy  the  defilement  of  the  young.  It  is  a  device  by  which  they 
are  ensnared,  and  where  criminal  suggestions  are  uttered  by 
sign  and  signal.  I  refer  to  the  "  handkerchief"  and  "  glove" 
flirtation  cards,  by  which  means  the  schoolgirl  is  taught  how  to 


156  TRAPS  FOR  THE  YOUNG, 

respond  to  signals  from  male  prostitutes.  A  code  of  signals  is 
printed  on  little  cards,  and  these  are  extensively  advertised  and 
sold.  They  serve  as  a  means  of  introduction.  They  are  also 
used  by  the  dealer  in  foul  matter  as  a  means  of  obtaining  the 
names  of  many  youth.  These  cards  are  often  advertised  to  be 
sent  free.  They  are  a  bait  to  secure  the  address  of  children. 
Some  are  harmless,  while  others  show  that  by  a  simple  turn  of 
the  hand  with  a  handkerchief  or  glove  in  it,  an  impure  sugges- 
tion is  meant  to  be  conveyed.  By  this  means  an  innocent  girl 
may  be  drawn  into  the  meshes  of  the  net  of  the  veriest  scoun- 
drel. It  is  an  easy  and  simple  thing  with  a  stranger  at  a  dis- 
tance to  twirl  the  hand  and  convey  an  impure  suggestion,  or 
to  respond  to  such  a  suggestion  on  his  part,  which,  if  he  were 
present,  no  youth  would  dare  to  offer.  Many  a  cowardly  cur 
will  flash  an  impure  suggestion  from  his  eye,  if  he  chance  to 
catch  the  attention  of  a  lady  in  passing.  So  many  a  bold  girl 
will  fling  out  the  same  idea  to  the  passer-by,  by  means  of  the 
above  device. 

Then  again,  there  are  "  acquaintance"  cards — cards  con- 
taining questions  with  space  to  be  filled  with  the  answer, 
and  these  are  capable  of  doing  great  harm  in  country  com- 
munities, where  the  rules  of  social  life  are  not  so  strictly  drawn 
as  in  the  cities.  These  are  handed  to  a  girl  at  a  public  meet- 
ing or  slipped  into  her  hand,  or  dropped  before  her  as  she  walks 
the  street,  and  she  has  only  to  put  her  reply  to  the  printed 
questions,  and  return  it  in  the  same  manner. 

These  cards  do  not  always  lead  to  ruin,  but  they  make  the  first 
step  to  an  objectionable  acquaintance  easy.  They  help  break  down 
the  sweet  modesty  of  the  child,  and  serve  as  introductions  to 
companions  who  in  no  way  are  of  any  value,  but  who  should 
be  avoided  and  shunned. 

When  parents  find  advertisements  of  such  matter  in  the 
papers  read  by  their  children,  it  is  time  to  dispense  with  those 
papers  in  the  household.  Like  a  shark  following  in  the  wake 
of  a  vessel  at  sea,  there  are  grim  monsters  of  vice  lurking 


QUACK    TRAPS.  157 

behind  these  devices.  The  child  may  write  and  receive  nothing 
of  an  objectionable  character,  but  the  child's  letter  may  be  sold 
the  very  next  day  to  some  vender  of  deadly  poison,  who  will 
send  his  circulars  secretly  by  mail,  offering  that  which  no  child 
ought  to  see. 


CHAPTER  X. 

FREE-LOVE   TRAPS. 

WHEN  a  boy  I  used  to  construct  in  the  woods  what  was  called 
a  stone-trap.  This  was  formed  by  taking  a  large  flat  stone  and 
setting  it  up  on  one  edge  at  an  angle  of  about  forty-five  degrees, 
and  fastening  it  there  by  means  of  three  notched  sticks.  The 
end  of  one  directly  under  the  centre  of  the  stone  was  baited 
with  a  sweet  apple.  The  rabbit  or  squirrel  nibbling  the  apple 
ivould  spring  the  trap  and  be  crushed  to  death. 

The  thing  I  mention  now  crushes  self-respect,  moral  purity, 
and  holy  living.  Sure  ruin  and  death  are  the  end  to  the  vic- 
tims caught  by  this  doctrine,  which  is  now  becoming  so  preva- 
lent. It  is  a  bid  to  the  lowest  and  most  debased  forms  of  living, 
and  is  dangerous  to  youth  and  adults  alike.  It  takes  the  word 
"  love,"  that  sweetens  so  much  of  earth,  and  shines  so  brightly 
in  heaven,  and  making  that  its  watchword,  distorts  and  prosti- 
tutes its  meaning,  until  it  is  the  mantle  for  all  kinds  of  license 
and  uncleanness.  It  should  be  spelled  1-u-s-t,  to  be  rightly 
understood,  as  it  is  interpreted  by  so-called  liberals. 

I  can  liken  it  to  nothing  more  striking  than  the  rude  stone 
trap,  so  far  as  its  results  go. 

As  advocated  by  a  few  indecent  creatures  calling  themselves 
reformers — men  and  women  foul  of  speech,  shameless  in  their 
lives,  and  corrupting  in  their  influences — we  must  go  to  a  sewer 
that  has  been  closed,  where  the  accumulations  of  filth  have  for 
years  collected,  to  find  a  striking  resemblance  to  its  ttue  char- 
acter. I  know  of  nothing  more  offensive  to  decency,  or  more 
revolting  to  good  morals,  than  the  class  of  publications  issuing 
from  this  source.  Science  is  dragged  down  by  these  advocates, 
and  made  a  pretended  foundation  for  their  argument,  while 


FREE- LOVE    TRAPS.  159 

their  foul  utterances  are  sought  to  be  palmed  off  upon  the  pub- 
lic as  scientific  efforts  to  elevate  mankind.  With  them,  mar- 
riage is  bondage  ;  love  is  lust ;  celibacy  is  suicide  ;  while  fidel- 
ity to  marriage  vows  is  a  relic  of  barbarism.  All  restraints 
which  keep  boys  and  girls,  young  men  and  maidens  pure  and 
chaste,  which  prevent  our  homes  from  being  turned  into  vol- 
untary brothels,  are  not  to  be  tolerated  by  them. 

Nothing  short  of  turning  the  whole  human  family  loose  to 
run  wild  like  the  beasts  of  the  forest,  will  satisfy  the  demands 
of  the  leaders  and  publishers  of  this  literature.  The  chief 
creature  of  this  vile  creed  was  sentenced  to  two  years  in  Ded- 
ham  Jail,  Massachusetts,  for  sending  his  obscene  books  ad- 
vocating his  doctrine  through  the  mails. 

He  made  a  special  effort  to  secure  ' '  boy  and  girl  agents' '  to 
scatter  his  indecencies.  He  was  accorded  a  public  reception 
by  leading  "  Liberals"  in  Boston,  on  his  release  from  jail. 

This  kind  of  literature  is  strictly  to  be  classified  as  a  liberal 
trap.  It  is  the  favorite  of  the  repeal  element  of  the  National 
Liberal  League.  At  their  conventions  these  foul  publications 
have  a  prominent  place  given  them.  Indeed,  their  altars — if 
it  be  not  a  perversion  of  this  word  to  use  it  in  connection  with 
such  gatherings — are  covered  with  them  as  they  are  offered  for 
sale.  They  have  expended  more  zeal  to  defend  and  perpetuate 
these  publications,  lavished  more  liberal  speeches,  and  wasted 
more  printer' s  ink,  than  on  almost  any  other  of  their  schemes. 

In  their  interest  they  have  endeavored  to  repeal  the  laws  of 
Congress  against  obscene  literature  going  through  the  mails. 
Their  former  president,  Wakeman,  has  championed  these  publi- 
cations in  his  public  addresses,  as  well  as  in  his  public  defence 
in  court  of  one  of  the  worst  of  this  class  of  obscenity-defenders. 
In  a  card  which  he  recently  published  over  his  own  name  in  a 
Milwaukee  paper,  he  says  : 

' '  Mr.  Anthony  Comstock  is  made  to  say  of  me  that  he  never 
saw  me  defend  but  one  case  in  court,  and  that  was  an  offender 
of  obscenity,  and  his  client  was  convicted. 

' '  This  is  simply  untrue.     I  never  defended  any  such  case  in 


160  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

any  court,  and  my  position  is  such  that  it  would  be  indelicate 
and  improper  for  me  to  act  professionally  in  any  such  case." 

Mr.  Wakeman  need  not  ' '  make  me  say. "  I  do  emphatically 
say  that  he  did  defend  and  act  as  counsel  for  a  notorious  of- 
fender, and  that  his  client  was  convicted  of  sending  obscene 
matter  by  mail.  His  statements  to  the  contrary  are  wilful 
falsehoods.  I  sat  in  the  court-room  during  the  entire  trial  of 
the  case,  and  this  liberal  president  was  zealous  throughout  the 
trial  in  the  defence  of  the  smut-  dealer.  His  brother  and  him- 
self acted  as  counsel,  and  he,  at  the  close,  even  addressed  the 
jury.  The  case  was  appealed  to  the  full  bench  of  the  United 
States  Circuit  Court,  and  the  record  shows  this  man's  name 
signed  to  the  appeal  papers,  as  ' '  counsel  for  appellant. ' ' 

The  importance  of  alluding  to  this  alliance  of  the  free-lust 
and  liberal  elements  is  found  in  the  fact  that  the  latter  claim 
to  be  so  exalted  and  superior  to  old-fashioned  religion,  moral 
principles,  pure  Christian  character,  etc.,  and  their  leaders  are 
constantly  posing  before  the  public  on  the  platform,  or  in  pub- 
lished cards  in  newspapers,  protesting  and  certifying  that  they 
never  favored  obscenity ;  or  never  defended  an  obscenity- 
monger,  while  at  the  same  time  they  are  organized  and  are 
raising  funds  to  fight  the  powers  that  are  earnestly  seeking  to 
destroy  these  sources  of  corruption. 

The  manner  is  ludicrous  in  the  extreme  in  which  Wakeman 
and  his  associates  talk  and  behave  at  some  of  their  conventions. 
They  denounce,  not  the  filthy  productions  of  licentious  minds, 
but  the  efforts  to  prevent  this  putrid  stream  from  entering  the 
haunts  of  the  young  ;  passing  resolutions  of  condolence  with 
convicted  smut-dealers  ;  rushing  to  extend  a  public  reception 
to  the  released  convict ;  or,  anon,  sending  him  around  the 
world  as  their  favorite.  But  let  some  one  charge  them  with  any 
of  these  things,  and  forty-eight  hours  afterward  they  will  de- 
nounce such  a  one  as  a  liar,  and  protest  they  are  "not  guilty." 

The  above  card  from  Wakeman  is  a  fair  sample  of  liberal 
methods.  Like  the  great  apostle  of  infidelity,  he  never  favored 
obscenity.  Yet  in  Faneuil  Hall,  Boston,  August  ist,  1878,  he 


FREE- LOVE    TRAPS.  161 

argued  (so  says  The  Index,  September  26th)  :  "  That  to  prohibit 
the  mailing  of  obscene  publications,  as  such,  or  to  exclude 
anything  else  from  the  mails  for  non-postal  purposes  and  rea- 
sons, is  a  sheer  usurpation  on  the  part  of  Congress.  ...  On 
these  grounds  Mr.  Wakeman  demands  the  total  repeal  of  the 
Comstock  laws." 

In  a  letter  to  the  Third  Liberal  League  of  New  York,  dated 
August  8th,  1878,  he  says  : 

"  We  are  told  that  if  you  dare  to  oppose  these  laws  you  will 
'  fall  into  the  trap '  of  allying  yourselves  and  all  liberalism  with 
'  obscenity.'  But  suppose  you  do  not  oppose  them  ?  Do  not 
you  then  ally  liberalism  with  bigotry  and  fatal  betrayal  of 
liberty  ?  Is  not  the  latter  '  trap  '  the  worse  of  the  two  ?" 

Mr.  Francis  E.  Abbot,  one  of  the  former  presidents  of  the 
National  Liberal  League,  who  resigned  and  seceded  because 
he  could  not  sink  to  the  level  of  the  repeal  element  in  filth,  in 
1878,  in  his  paper  says,  in  speaking  of  the  coming  convention 
at  Syracuse  : 

"  And  the  danger  is  that  from  New  York,  Boston,  and 
Philadelphia,  in  all  of  which  cities,  as  I  think,  the  free-love 
doctrine  has  obtained  among  Liberals  a  considerable  foothold, 
the  convention  may  be  overborne  and  swamped.  Then  there 
is  more  or  less  of  an  infusion  of  this  virus  all  through  the 
country."  Thus  the  better  portion  of  the  Liberal  element 
sought  to  warn  and  save  before  that  convention. 

Again,  Wakeman  has  used  all  his  puny  strength  to  oppose 
the  efforts  of  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  going  so 
far  as  to  make  speeches  and  to  print  and  disseminate  them 
against  it.  These  speeches  contain  grossly  false  statements, 
all  against  the  interests  employed  to  crush  out  this  their  dear 
obscenity. 

In  speaking  of  the  action  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  in  adhering 
to  the  traditions  of  their  creed,  the  Saturday  Revieiv,  in  a 
recent  article  says  :  "  No  race  has  suffered  so  much  from  that 
license.  The  evil  consequences  are  far-reaching  and  baleful  in 
the  extreme.  .  .  .  One  of  the  direct  results  of  this  sensuality 


1 62  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

is  that  the  Turks  have  degenerated  physically  during  the  past 
two  hundred  years.  That  the  conquerors  of  Constantinople 
were  a  hardy  race  of  great  physical  strength  there  can  be  no 
doubt ;  that  the  great  majority  of  modern  Turks  are  of  an 
effeminate  type  is  equally  certain  ;  very  many  of  them  are  per- 
sons of  fine  appearance,  but  they  are  physically  weak,  without 
elasticity,  giving  the  impression  of  men  who  have  lost  their 
vitality.  The  same  may  be  said  even  more  emphatically  of 
Turkish  women  ;  they  are  small  in  stature,  of  a  sickly  com- 
plexion, easily  fatigued  by  slight  exertion,  and  become  prema- 
turely old.  After  the  age  of  forty  all  feminine  beauty  is  gone  ; 
the  eyes  have  become  sunken,  the  cheeks  hollow,  and  the  face 
wrinkled  ;  and  there  remains  no  trace  of  the  activity  and  phys- 
ical strength  often  seen  in  English  women  of  sixty- five  or  even 
seventy  years  of  age.  Another  immediate  result  of  the  prevailing 
sensuality  is  the  mental  imbecility  of  multitudes  of  the  Ottoman 
Turks  ;  great  numbers  among  them  are  intellectually  stupid. 
Many  even  of  the  young  men  have  the  vacant  look  which  bor- 
ders close  on  the  idiotic  state.  Severe  mental  application  is  for 
them  almost  a  physical  impossibility.  It  is  well  known  that 
in  all  branches  of  business  where  considerable  mental  activity 
is  required  the  Turks  employ  Christians  to  work  for  them. 
This  is  owing  not  so  much  to  a  lack  of  education,  or  to  a  gen- 
eral want  of  energy,  as  in  many  cases  to  a  mental  incapacity 
which  often  amounts  to  real  imbecility.  Obvious  illustrations 
of  the  special  topic  now  discussed  are  furnished  by  the  royal 
family  itself.  Sultan  Abdul  Mejid,  Sultan  Abdul  Aziz,  and 
the  deposed  Sultan  Murad  were  all  men  of  depraved  minds, 
sncious  habits,  intemperate  and  sensual  in  the  extreme,  and  were 
alike  devoid  of  moral  character  and  mental  capacity.  Mental 
incapacity,  however,  from  the  causes  alleged,  is  not  confined  by 
any  means  to  the  wealthy  and  aristocratic  classes  ;  it  is  found 
in  all  grades  of  society. ' ' 

Everything  said  of  these  Turks  is  verified  in  the  looks,  habits, 
and  lives  of  the  advocates  of  this  base  doctrine  in  our  own 
land  to-day. 


FREE-LOVE    TRAPS.  163 

These  agencies  are  active.  They  publish  their  false  doctrines 
and  theories,  hold  public  meetings  where  foul-mouthed  women 
address  audiences  of  males — principally  youth  and  old  men — 
and  the  result  of  this  seed-sowing  is  an  enervated,  lazy,  shift- 
less, corrupt  breed  of  human  beings,  devoid  of  common 
decency,  not  fit  companions,  in  many  cases,  to  run  with  swine. 

My  first  experience  with  this  crew  was  in  Boston.  Their 
leader  had  printed  a  most  obscene  and  loathsome  book.  This 
book  is  too  foul  for  description. 

This  foul  book  was  advertised  at  a  low  price,  and  a  special 
effort  was  made  for  "  boy,  girl,  and  women  agents"  to  sell 
the  same.  This  leader  and  his  wife  made  it  their  business  to 
hold  free-love  conventions,  for  the  purpose  of  educating  the 
youth  in  this  line.  He  appropriated  the  mails  of  the  United 
States,  and  made  them  his  efficient  agents  in  disseminating  the 
book.  Every  volume  had  an  advertisement  for  ' '  boy  and  girl 
agents. ' ' 

I  secured  the  evidence,  and  procured  a  warrant  in  the  United 
States  Court  at  Boston  for  his  arrest.  I  was  especially 
deputed  to  execute  this  warrant.  I  went  to  his  residence,  and 
there  learned  that  he  was  in  Boston,  holding  a  free-love  con- 
vention. I  returned  there,  reaching  the  hall  where  this  conven- 
tion was  being  held  about  8.30  P.M.  I  was  alone.  I  went  up 
to  the  convention,  bought  a  ticket,  and  as  I  entered  the  hall 
heard  the  speaker  railing  at  "  that  Comstock."  I  took  a  seat 
without  being  recognized.  The  address  was  made  up  of  abuse 
of  myself  and  disgusting  arguments  for  their  cause. 

I  looked  over  the  audience  of  about  250  men  and  boys.  I 
could  see  lust  in  every  face.  After  a  little  the  wife  of  the 
president  (the  person  I  was  after)  took  the  stand,  and  delivered 
the  foulest  address  I  ever  heard.  She  seemed  lost  to  all  shame. 
The  audience  cheered  and  applauded.  It  was  too  vile  ;  I 
had  to  go  out.  I  wanted  to  arrest  the  leader  and  end  the  base 
performance.  There  my  man  sat  on  the  platform,  puffed  up 
with  egotism.  I  looked  at  him  and  at  the  250  eager  faces, 
anxious  to  catch  every  word  that  fell  from  his  wife' s  lips. 


1 64  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

Discretion  said,  It  is  not  wise  to  make  yourself  known. 
Duty  said,  There's  your  man,  take  him.  But  I  was  alone.  In 
not  one  face  in  all  that  throng  of  his  sympathizers  was  there 
enough  manliness  to  encourage  a  hope  of  help,  in  case 
I  required  it. 

I  left  the  room  with  this  one  sentiment  uppermost  in  my 
mind  :  "  It  is  infamous  that  such  a  thing  as  this  is  possible  in 
any  part  of  our  land,  much  more  in  Boston.  It  must  be 
stopped.  But  how  ?' '  I  went  down  the  two  flights  of  stairs  to 
the  street.  The  fresh  air  never  was  more  refreshing.  I 
resolved  to  stop  that  exhibition  of  nastiness,  if  possible.  I 
looked  for  a  policeman.  As  usual,  none  was  to  be  found  when 
wanted.  Then  I  sought  light  and  help  from  above.  I  prayed 
for  strength  to  do  my  duty,  and  that  I  might  have  success.  I 
knew  God  was  able  to  help  me.  Every  manly  instinct  cried 
out  against  my  cowardly  turning  my  back  on  this  horde  of  lust- 
ers. I  determined  to  try.  I  resolved  that  one  man  in  America 
at  least  should  enter  a  protest. 

I  had  been  brought  over  from  the  depot  in  a  carriage.  I  had 
the  driver  place  his  carriage  at  the  door  leading  up  to  the  hall. 
I  returned  to  the  hall.  This  chieftain's  wife  continued  her 
offensive  tirade  against  common  decency.  Occasionally  she 
referred  to  "  that  Comstock."  Her  husband  presided  with 
great  self-complacency.  You  would  have  thought  he  was  the 
champion  of  some  majestic  cause  instead  of  a  mob  of  free- 
lusters.  I  sat  down  again  in  the  audience.  The  stream  of 
filth  continued  until  it  seemed  to  me  I  could  not  sit  a  moment 
longer.  Just  then  the  leader  passed  from  the  stage  into  the 
anteroom.  The  audience  were  carried  away  with  the  vile  talk. 
The  baser  the  expressions,  the  louder  they  applauded. 

I  followed  him  out,  and  said  to  him  quietly,  "  Is  your 
name ?' '  * 

With  much  self-conceit,  he  responded  in  the  affirmative. 

I  simply  said,  ' '  I  have  a  warrant  for  your  arrest  for  send- 

*  There  is  no  occasion  for  advertising  him,  and  so  I  omit  the  name. 


FREE- LOVE    TRAPS.  165 

ing  obscene  matter  through  the  mail.  You  are  my  pris- 
oner. ' ' 

He  gasped  out,  "  Who  are  you  ?" 

I  replied,  "  I  am  a  deputy  United  States  marshal." 

"  Well,"  he  said,  "  if  you'll  excuse  me  I'll  just  go  in  and 
address  the  convention  a  moment. ' ' 

I  had  been  expecting  this,  and  said  at  once,  ' '  You  are  now 
in  custody,  and  you  cannot  harangue  that  crowd  any  more  to- 
night." 

Then  he  tried  other  devices  to  get  into  the  hall ;  he  wanted 
his  overcoat  and  hat. 

I  said,  ' '  No,  you  cannot  go  in  there  again  to  night.  I  then 
turned  to  one  of  his  doorkeepers,  a  man  about  six  feet  two 
inches  high,  who  was  selling  these  obscene  books  as  the  people 
passed  in  and  out,  and  said,  "  Are  you  a  friend  of  this  man  ?" 

' '  Waal,  you  bet  I  am, ' '  he  replied. 

1 '  Then, ' '  said  I,  ' '  you  had  better  get  his  hat  and  coat,  or 
he'll  go  without  them." 

Then  the  prisoner  wanted  to  go  in  and  see  his  wife.  I  said, 
' '  No  ;  call  her  out. ' '  As  the  six-footer  brought  the  hat  and 
coat,  his  wife-orator  came  out,  having  excused  herself  for  a 
moment,  and,  much  to  my  surprise,  the  audience  kept  their 
seats. 

It  began  to  be  a  little  warm.  Any  moment  an  alarm  might 
be  given  and  this  mob  break  loose.  I  kept  cool,  but  it  required 
an  effort. 

She  wanted  to  know  what  was  going  to  be  done  with  her 
husband.  I  quietly  replied,  "  Taken  to  Charles  Street  Jail." 

"  Well,"  she  said,  "I'll  just  go  in  and  adjourn  the  conven- 
tion, and  then  will  come  out  and  go  with  you,  if  you  will  wait 
a  few  moments." 

I  felt  obliged,  out  of  respect  to  my  wife,  sisters,  and  lady 
friends,  to  decline  the  kind  offer  of  her  (select)  company.  It 
was  about  all  I  wanted  to  do  to  have  one  of  that  slimy  crowd 
in  charge. 

I  knew  that  as  soon  as  she  returned  and  announced  the  ar- 


1 66  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

rest  there  would  be  a  scene.  I  was  in  no  mood  for  a  bigger 
show  than  I  had  already  witnessed.  I  had  my  money's  worth 
and  more,  and  was  fully  satisfied. 

The  prisoner  desired  to  tarry.  He  did  not  readily  respond 
to  my  gentle  hint  to  come.  Time  was  safety  with  me  then. 
I  said,  "  Come  ;"  and  then  took  him  by  the  shoulder  (or 
neck,  or  thereabouts),  and  he  moved  toward  the  foot  of  the 
stairs.  We  got  part  way  down  the  top  flight,  and  I  heard  a 
tremendous  yell.  Then  came,  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to 
write  it,  a  rush  of  many  feet,  pell-mell  over  benches  and  seats, 
in  their  scramble  to  see  who  would  get  out  and  down  first.  I 
took  my  man  by  the  nape  of  the  neck  and  we  went  down  the 
next  flight  rather  lively,  and  into  the  carriage.  Before  the  first 
one  of  the  audience  touched  the  sidewalk,  we  were  half  a  block 
away  ;  for  before  I  could  get  the  carriage  door  closed,  my  Jehu, 
thinking  discretion  the  better  part  of  valor,  whipped  his  steeds 
into  a  gentle  run,  away  ho  !  for  Charles  Street  Jail,  where  we 
arrived  in  safety. 

Thus,  reader,  the  devil's  trapper  was  trapped. 

Apply  what  is  said  of  the  Ottoman  Turks  to  the  victim  of 
this  theory  and  practice  to-day,  and  it  is  in  every  way  true. 
Lust,  to  the  careful  observer,  as  surely  shows  itself  in  the  face, 
look,  and  the  expression  of  the  eye,  as  do  the  marks  of  intem- 
perance. 

It  is  seen  on  the  cars  in  the  face  of  the  man  who  stares  the 
lady  out  of  countenance.  It  is  marked  in  the  manner  and 
expression  of  young  men  who  seem  to  go  to  church  for  the 
express  purpose  of  standing  on  the  curbstone  in  front  of  the 
church  door,  at  the  close  of  the  service,  to  watch  and  stare  at 
the  maidens  as  they  come  out.  The  poke  in  the  ribs  and  laugh 
to  attract  attention,  so  often  seen  and  heard  from  these  gutter- 
statuaries,  all  argue  nothing  for  common  breeding  or  decency. 

There  is  in  Brooklyn  a  well-dressed  man,  with  chin  whiskers 
almost  white,  who  makes  a  business  of  travelling  about  on 
crowded  ferry-boats  and  horse- cars,  and  standing  on  street  cor- 
ners, to  insult  women  as  they  pass.  This  miserable  creature 


FREE-LOVE    TRAPS.  167 

was  very  much  outraged  because  he  was  exposed  while  offering 
an  insult  to  a  poor  but  in  every  way  modest  working-girl,  on 
a  ferry-boat  recently. 

Many  lad:es  complain  of  insults  from  this  creature.  Well 
for  him  that  husbands  or  brothers  are  not  by  when  he  treads 
on  ladies'  toes,  or  nudges  them  with  his  knee  or  elbow.  These 
cowards  always  take  good  care  to  see  that  the  lady  is  alone 
before  advertising  by  their  acts  that  they  are  unclean.  They 
are  devoured  with  vileness,  and  act  out  to  the  full  their  base 
natures. 

To  the  young  man  or  woman  let  me  say,  shun  evil  thoughts. 
They  breed  evil  practices,  and  these  soon  will  sink  you  so  low 
that  none  are  mean  enough  to  do  you  reverence.  These  traps 
are  numerous.  They  crush  out  common  decency.  They  sap 
the  physical  well-being  in  the  man  or  woman,  and  reduce  hu- 
manity below  the  level  of  the  brute.  What  license  has  done 
for  the  Turks,  this  free-love  doctrine  is  doing  for  America. 


CHAPTER   XI. 

ARTISTIC    AND    CLASSICAL   TRAPS. 

THE  more  seductive  the  bait,  the  more  numerous  are  the  vic- 
tims. To  please  the  eye,  to  charm  the  ear,  or  to  enter  any 
of  the  senses,  is  often  the  easiest  way  to  the  heart.  That 
"appearances  are  deceitful"  is  especially  true  whenever  Satan 
sets  a  trap  for  victims.  The  glittering  embellishments  of  the 
barroom  are  more  conducive  to  his  schemes  than  the  horrible 
realities  flowing  from  them  of  beggared  homes,  widowed  moth- 
ers, starving  children,  a  degraded  existence,  and  a  drunkard's 
grave.  The  promised  fortune  offered  by  gamblers  hides  the 
ruin  that  follows  those  crazed  by  these  golden  allurements. 

So  ' '  art' '  and  ' '  classic' '  are  made  to  gild  some  of  the  most 
obscene  representations  and  foulest  matters  in  literature,  regard- 
less of  their  results  to  immature  minds.  The  natural  outgrowth 
of  corrupt  minds  of  past  ages,  they  are  reproduced,  and  instead 
of  being  confined  within  the  narrow  restrictions  of  ' '  art  gal- 
lery" or  "  museum,"  they  are  now  paraded  before  the  eyes  of 
the  public,  flaunting  their  shame  indiscriminately,  whether 
youth  are  debauched  or  not.  ' '  Fine  art' '  has  lent  its  charms 
to  pictures  of  lust,  intensifying  their  power  for  evil,  and  finding 
an  apology  for  them  before  the  public.  The  death-dealing 
powers  of  strychnine  are  the  same  whether  administered  as  a 
sugar-coated  pill  or  in  its  natural  state.  So  no  embellishment 
of  art  can  rob  lust  of  its  power  for  evil  upon  the  human  nature. 
The  same  black  stain  appears,  whether  coarse  and  lewd  or  traced 
in  lines  of  beauty.  The  latter  is  the  more  insidious. 

In  every  genuine  work  of  art  there  is  much  to  please.  A 
thing  of  beauty  it  is  pleasant  to  recall.  The  charms  lent  by 
the  artist  render  it  more  ensnaring,  by  hiding  the  reality  and 


ARTISTIC  AND   CLASSICAL    TRAPS.  16$ 

results.  You  cannot  handle  fire  and  not  be  burned,  neither 
can  the  black  fiend  Lust  touch  the  moral  nature  without  leav- 
ing traces  of  defilement. 

Again,  in  ' '  literature, ' '  authors  whose  pens  seemed  dipped 
in  the  sunlight  of  eloquence  have  vividly  portrayed  scenes  of 
licentiousness  ;  or  satirically  personated  the  life  of  the  libertine 
and  his  conquests  ;  or  recorded  the  histories  of  ancient  rakes  ; 
or  gratified  their  own  low-born  or  degraded  natures  by  making 
pen- pictures  of  their  own  lascivious  imaginings  ;  or  again,  have 
fallen  into  a  common  error,  by  seeking  to  suppress  this  loath- 
some monster  by  describing  real  or  imagined  scenes  of 
impurity. 

Many  ' '  classical ' '  writers,  as  the  word  goes  to-day,  have 
gained  fame  by  catering  to  the  animal  in  man,  expending  high 
genius  in  their  efforts  to  deify  this  ' '  companion  of  every  other 
crime." 

Recognizing  the  principle  ' '  that  whatsoever  a  man  soweth 
that  shall  he  also  reap, ' '  there  are  many  men  who  hunt  out 
from  the  • '  fine  arts' '  the  most  lascivious  pictures  and  scenes, 
in  order  to  cater  to  this  low  appetite  of  the  public.  The  165 
obscene  books,  to  say  nothing  of  the  thousands  of  pictures, 
poems,  doggerels,  and  other  foul  matter  disseminated  for  over 
thirty  years  in  this  country,  these  men  reckon  to  show  that 
there  is  to  an  alarming  extent  a  most  depraved  demand  for 
salacious  reading.  Accordingly  Pompeii,  the  art  galleries,  and 
the  museums  of  Europe  are  explored  to  find  some  new  work 
of  an  obscene  character  or  tendency  which  they  can  reproduce, 
which  shall  possess  the  quality  to  satisfy  this  low  taste,  and  yet 
shall  be  labelled  ( '  art' '  for  their  protection. 

Lewd  pictures  breed  hurtful  thoughts.  This  axiom  stands  out 
above  all  argument. 

Reckless  of  moral  disease,  unconscious  of  the  harm  these 
silent  agencies  of  the  evil  one  are  working  upon  the  minds 
open  to  such  immoral  influences,  many  book  and  picture  mer- 
chants, for  personal  gain,  are  placing  these  things  prominently 
in  their  stock  to  allure  purchasers.  That  there  is  a  demand  for 


l?r>  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

the  licentious  there  can  be  no  question.  That  there  is  an 
erroneous  notion  abroad  about  photographs  or  cheap  copies  of 
works  of  art,  and  cheap  and  popular  editions  of  obscene  so- 
called  classics,  is  equally  true.  The  same  is  true  of  many  pict- 
ures or  paintings  that  have  no  claim  to  art.  Because  some 
foul-minded  man  places  his  filthy  conceptions  upon  cantas  is 
no  reason  why  such  a  daub  should  be  protected  under  the  name 
of  art.  Art  is  high  and  exalted.  Its  worth  commands  respect 
Its  intrinsic  value  is  derived  from  its  perfection. 

These  things,  until  recently,  were  so  restricted  that  their 
power  for  evil  was  confined  to  a  narrow  limit.  But  of  late,  since 
the  grosser-worded  publications  cannot  be  obtained  generally 
as  before,  men  calling  themselves  respectable  citizens,  and 
holding  prominent  positions  in  society,  have  popularized  these 
works  by  getting  out  low-priced  editions  and  extensively  adver- 
tising them. 

Other  parties,  again,  have  substituted  these  books  for  the 
obscene  ones  that  have  been  suppressed. 

Again,  others  advertise  them  precisely  as  the  suppressed 
books  were  formerly  advertised,  as  "rich,  rare,  and  racy," 
"  spicy  reading  for  young  men,"  etc. 

During  the  present  year  two  men  were  arrested  in  New  Jersey 
for  selling  cheap,  low-priced  copies  of  a  garbled  English  trans- 
lation of  an  Italian  classic.  These  they  sold  indiscriminately, 
and  on  the  trial  it  was  proved  that  they  showed  them  to  young 
men  and  cautioned  them  ' '  that  they  must  not  leave  the  book 
where  their  mother  or  sisters  could  see  it, ' '  nor  ' '  keep  it  on 
the  centre-table. ' ' 

These  men  were  very  indignant  that  they  were  arrested  as 
venders  of  obscene  literature.  "  They  were  respectable,  they 
were."  Was  ever  guilty  intent  more  clearly  proved?  The 
advice  given  by  them  as  above  was  not  to  protect  the  morals 
of  these  youth,  but  to  excite  curiosity  and  insure  the  sale  of  the 
book  by  thus  insidiously  appealing  to  the  vile. 

Montesquieu  said  that  democracy  is  founded  on  virtue. 
This  saying  may  be  somewhat  exaggerated,  but  certain  it  is, 


ARTISTIC  AND   CLASSICAL    TRAPS.  171 

this  nation's  highest  hopes  are  endangered  by  the  fearful  inroads 
of  immorality.  The  progress  of  immorality  is  alarming.  The 
license  of  press,  of  books,  pictures,  and  of  plays  is  increasing, 
and  revolting  crimes  are  multiplying  as  a  result.  These  influ- 
ences are  exerting  a  power  which,  if  not  checked,  government 
will  soon  be  powerless  to  check. 

To  educate  the  public  mind  by  lust  is  to  deaden  the  public 
conscience.  To  breathe  a  foul  atmosphere  is  to  imbibe  the 
seeds  of  disease.  To  form  a  habit  of  using  stimulants  is  to 
tacitly  consent  to  the  sale  of  intoxicating  liquors,  regardless  of 
the  skeleton  monument  that  is  being  reared  beside  each  one  of 
these  death-dealing  agencies.  To  set  our  youth  wild  with  pas- 
sion by  the  lascivious  products  of  ancient  writers,  or  to  fasten 
the  picture  of  lust  painted  by  some  ' '  old  master' '  upon  their 
imagination  to  defile  it,  is  none  the  less  a  crime  because  these 
records  of  crime  have  outlived  their  day. 

It  is  the  morals  of  the  youth  of  the  present  and  of  the  future 
that  should  most  interest  every  patriot,  not  of  those  of  the  past. 
These  slimy  records  disclose  nothing  but  that  which  appeals  to 
our  lower  natures.  They  may  be  warnings.  But  if  such,  let 
them  be  warnings  to  parents  and  teachers.  They  are  too 
obscene  and  seductive  to  be  regarded  as  of  value  as  educators 
of  the  young.  » 

Is  a  photograph  of  an  obscene  figure  or  picture  a  work  of  art  ? 
My  answer  is  emphatically,  No.  A  work  of  art  is  made  up  of 
many  elements  that  are  wanting  in  a  photograph  of  the  same, 
precisely  as  there  is  a  marked  difference  between  a  woman  in 
her  proper  womanly  apparel  and  modest  appearance,  and  when 
shorn  of  all  these  and  posed  in  a  lewd  posture.  Because  we 
are  above  savages,  we  clothe  our  nakedness.  So  with  a.  work  of 
art  as  compared  to  a  copy  ;  in  the  first  there  are  things  which 
call  for  a  division  of  attention  ;  the  artist  has  expended  much 
time  to  bring  his  picture  to  perfection.  The  lines  of  beauty, 
the  minglmg  colors,  tintings,  and  shadings,  all  seem  to  clothe 
the  figures  by  diverting  attention  from  that  which,  if  taken 
alone,  is  objectionable,  with  a  surrounding  which  protects  its 


172  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

offensive  character.     In  other  words,  that  which,  if  taken  alone, 
is  offensive  to  good  morals,  is  unmasked  in  the  copy. 

Again,  the  labor  of  the  artist  is  robbed  of  its  true  value  when 
his  picture  is  caricatured  by  such  a  process.  It  is  no  longer  a 
work  of  art,  because  it  is  stripped  of  all  that  makes  it  complete 
and  perfect. 

What  is  the  difference,  in  point  of  morals  or  decency,  between 
a  photograph  of  a  nude  woman  in  a  lewd  posture,  with  a  las- 
civious look  on  her  face,  and  a  photograph  of  the  same  form 
and  the  same  expression,  taken  from  a  piece  of  canvas  ?  It  is 
the  original  picture  which  represents  the  skill  and  talent  of  the 
artist.  To  strip  it  of  any  color,  tint,  or  shade,  or  to  mar  any 
line  of  beauty,  is  to  defraud  the  artist  and  detract  from  the  value 
of  his  effort. 

Again,  can  an  artist  make  anything  more  divine  than  the 
human  form  ?  If  the  laws  of  the  land  prohibit  the  making  of 
pictures  of  this  body  in  indecent  or  lascivious  postures,  what 
consistency  is  there  in  allowing  counterfeits  of  the  same,  or 
copies  to  be  made  from  paintings  or  engravings  ? 

Again,  let  the  rights  of  all  artists  be  protected,  if  we  must  have 
"  works  of  art"  that  are  shocking  to  modesty,  or  offensive  to 
decency,  by  public  sentiment's  restricting  these  products  to 
the  galleries  of  art,  and  not  permitting  counterfeits  of  the 
vile  in  them  to  be  disseminated  indiscriminately  before  the 
public. 

So,  too,  with  the  ' '  literature  of  looseness. ' '  The  wit  and 
genius  of  past  writers  is  of  value  to  the  student.  The  collection 
of  rare  books  would  not  be  complete  without  many  books  that 
contain  offensive  matter.  The  sale  and  exhibition  of  these 
rare  and  classical  works  should  not  be  restricted,  perhaps,  for 
the  student  or  literary  man,  but  clearly  should  not  be  prosti- 
tuted to  indiscriminate  circulation  or  substituted  for  suppressed 
obscene  publications. 

Within  the  past  few  years  there  has  been  a  very  marked 
increase  in  this  line.  Unlike  wine,  age  does  not  improve  the 
character  and  effect  of  this  class  of  literature.  How  often  now 


ARTISTIC  AND    CLASSICAL    TRAPS.  173 

is  to  be  seen,  in  the  advertisements  of  leading  publishers,  such 
announcements  as  follows  : 

1    ....    published  entire,  all  suppressed  portions  complete. " 

Why  the  stress  upon  the  last  clause  ? 

Manifestly,  by  advertising  the  obscene  or  "suppressed" 
portions,  to  increase  the  sales,  and  as  a  sequence  enlarge  the 
profits. 

Take,  for  instance,  a  well-known  book,  written  by  Boccaccio. 
This  will  illustrate  the  prevailing  practice,  and  the  obstacles  met 
in  the  efforts  not  to  suppress  its  sale  to  literary  men  and 
students,  but  to  prevent  this,  like  a  wild  beast,  from  breaking 
loose  and  destroying  the  youth  of  the  land.  The  morals  of  the 
youth  first.  Virtuous  men  come  from  pure-minded  boys,  not 
from  those  whose  thoughts  are  charged  with  filth. 

I  recognize  the  fact  that  the  book  here  referred  to  (which  I 
do  not  purpose  to  advertise  by  naming)  has  become  part  of 
our  literary  inheritance  from  the  fourteenth  century,  and  was 
considered  a  text-book  of  pure  Italian  of  that  age.  Secondly, 
that  literary  men  regarded  it  in  every  age  as  obscene  and  inde- 
cent. Even  Boccaccio  himself,  before  he  died,  repented  of  his 
works,  and  solemnly  warned  the  youth  of  Florence  against  his 
own  loose  and  profane  novels.  Thirdly,  I  find  Dean  Milman, 
in  his  history  of  Latin  Christianity,  describing  him  "  as  the 
most  irreligious  writer  of  his  age,  by  reason  of  his  assaults  upon 
the  dominant  religion  of  his  day  ;  and  the  most  immoral  writer 
of  all  ages,  by  reason  of  his  gross  immoralities."  Speaking 
of  this  work  in  question,  he  says  :  ' '  Tale  follows  tale,  grad- 
ually sinking  from  indecency  into  obscenity,  from  mockery  to 
utter  profaneness. "  The  Church  of  Rome  in  vain  attempted  to 
prohibit  it,  or  cleanse  it  of  its  indecencies  and  license  an  edition 
of  it.  With  mutilations  and  interpolations,  it  survived  in  its 
original  shape,  by  reason  of  its  historical  interest  as  one  of  the 
earliest  and  most  famous  text -books  of  pure  Italian,  but  at  the 
same  time  as  an  exhibition  of  all  the  wit  and  all  the  indecencies 
of  mediaeval  novels.  Not  disputing  these  literary  and  histori- 
cal claims,  I  claim  it  should  be  kept  to  its  uses  in  the  literary 


174  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

world  just  as  medical  works  and  prints  should  be  kept  to  their 
proper  uses  in  the  scientific  world.* 

Deadly  poisons  have  their  lawful  uses  and  legitimate  place  in 
the  community,  yet  a  professional  pharmaceutist  may  not  sell 
some  of  them,  except  upon  the  prescription  of  a  physician,  and 
then  he  must  preserve  a  strict  record  of  the  same.  Are  not  the 

*  A  gentleman  familiar  with  Italian,  having  long  resided  in  Italy,  and 
a  master  of  English  literature  (in  which  branch  he  was  for  several 
years  a  professor),  writes  to  me  the  following  :  "  You  concede  too  much. 
The  book  you  are  really  writing  about  is  an  English  book,  having  no 
'use  in  the  literary  world,'  for  you  are  writing  about  a  translation. 
You  seem  to  me  to  admit  that  an  English  version  of  Boccaccio  has  the 
rights  of  a  classic.  That  is  not  true.  The  plea  for  freedom  in  the  circu- 
lation of  classics  is  good  only  for  Boccaccio  in  the  Italian  original, 
The  translation  is  an  English  book,  which  no  scholar  wants,  which 
nobody  wants,  for  a  literary  or  educational  purpose.  If  there  are 
scholars  who  want  to  know  the  beautiful  Italian  of  Boccaccio,  they 
must,  of  course,  learn  to  read  Italian.  As  a  classic,  I  repeat,  Boccaccio 
does  not  exist  in  the  English  language,  and  cannot  exist  in  it — the  Eng- 
lish version  cannot  have  a  single  classical  feature  of  value.  Further- 
more, there  are  translations  and  translations.  If,  for  an  impure  pur- 
pose, a  man  wished  to  vend  a  salacious  Boccaccio,  he  could  easily  get 
a  translation  made  that  would  altogether  surpass  the  Italian  in  inde- 
cency. And  what  is  true  of  Boccaccio  is  true  of  any  other  classical 
author  in  any  other  tongue.  Unfortunately,  all  languages  have  impure 
classics  ;  and  if  English  indecency  is  prohibited,  and  foreign  indecency 
(translated)  permitted,  there  will  be  a  large  stream  flowing  in  to  fill 
the  vacuum  you  are  making  by  suppressing  obscene  books.  There  are 
no  translated  classics.  Pope's  Homer  is  an  English  book,  with  some 
Homer  and  more  Pope.  It  would  be  a  very  absurd  business  to  read 
Pope's  Homer  as  a  Greek  classic  ;  or  for  the  matter  of  that,  anybody's 
Homer.  In  short,  Boccaccio  in  an  English  version  has  not  the  smallest 
claim  to  be  exempted  from  the  operation  of  the  laws  against  obscene 
books.  It  is  simply  an  English  book  made  from  a  filthy  Italian  book. 
The  translator  can  copyright  his  translation— a  test  fact  which  settles 
the  question,  if  it  were  not  settled  by  simple  common-sense.  There  has 
seldom  been  a  more  ridiculous  and  preposterous  claim  than  that  an 
English  version  of  Boccaccio  must  be  freely  circulated  in  order  that 
scholars  may  have  a  chance  to  read  the  fine  old  Florentine  of  the  orig- 
inal.— New  York,  April  25,  1883." 


ARTISTIC  AND    CLASSICAL    TRAPS.  175 

morals  of  as  much  importance  as  the  physical  safety  of  man- 
kind ?  Why  judge  a  man  a  "fanatic"  or  declare  that  "  he 
cannot  discern  between  obscenity  and  classical  literature," 
because  he  pleads  for  a  proper  restraint  upon  these  evils  ? 

Of  this  work,  Mr.  Gladstone,  in  the  Contemporary  Review, 
says  :  ' '  Saturated  from  top  to  toe  with  the  pagan  spirit,  as 
pagan  and  ultia-pagan  is  the  entire  strain,  the  atmosphere,  nay 
the  very  basis  of  its  work. ' ' 

But  apart  from  all  the  foregoing  considerations,  I  maintain, 
and  I  earnestly  submit  to  thoughtful  persons,  that  this  class  of 
books,  no  matter  by  what  author,  are  prostituted  to  an  unlaw- 
ful purpose  when  advertised  or  sold  indiscriminately  as 
"rich,"  "rare,"  and  "racy,"  or  "amorous  books;"  and 
any  person  so  outraging  public  decency  and  good  morals 
ought  to  be  punished.  The  intent  is  manifestly  to  sell  an 
obscene  book.  I  have  discovered  several  scoundrels  advertising 
these  books  as  above,  and  sending  their  circular  advertisements 
to  youth  in  schools  and  seminaries. 

The  moment  one  of  these  miscreants  is  arrested  there  is  a 
great  cry  about  ' '  attacking  classics. ' '  This  is  false  and  mis- 
leading. The  cheap  English  edition  is  not  a  classical  work. 
The  original,  being  preserved  as  a  text-book  of  pure  Italian,  is  a 
classic.  But  the  translation,  doctored  up  as  was  the  one  sold 
by  the  two  ' '  respectable' '  (?)  men  arrested  at  Asbury  Park, 
N.  J. ,  is  not  an  original  nor  a  classic. 

I  submit  again  another  point  for  thinking  persons,  to  wit  : 
it  is  not  interfering  with  a  classic  to  prevent  a  prostitution  of  it, 
or  to  punish  those  who  sell  it  as  an  obscene  book,  any  more 
than  it  is  interfering  with  arsenic  to  punish  a  druggist  who  sells 
it  in  violation  of  law.  Let  all  such  works  be  brought  within 
the  meaning  of  the  statutes,  and  restricted  in  the  interest  of 
good  morals. 

If  the  Jesuits  of  the  fourteenth  century  thought  it  too  obscene 
for  publication,  and  sought  to  suppress  it  in  the  Italian  language, 
and  literary  men  of  all  ages  regard  it  as  obscene  and  indecent, 
and  preserve  it  only  because  of  its  merits  as  a  literary  work, 


176  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

securing  its  fame,  as  it  largely  does,  because  of  the  exquisite, 
all-admired  Florentine  with  which  it  is  clothed  ;  surely  then, 
when  base  men,  translating  it  into  English,  prostitute  it  to  their 
base  purposes,  and  advertise  and  sell  it  as  an  obscene  book, 
and  dispose  of  it  so  that  it  falls  into  the  ever-ready  hands  of  the 
youth,  thus  becoming  a  corrupting  element  in  the  ranks  of  the 
rising  generation — these  men  ought  to  be  stopped  by  the  rigid 
enforcement  of  those  laws  that  are  designed  for  the  protection 
of  the  morals  of  the  young. 

And  further,  the  suppressing  of  such  prostitution  of  this  class 
of  Ijterature,  or  the  suppression  of  non-genuine  and  cheap 
editions  of  Boccaccio's  book,  is  important,  and  should  be  sanc- 
tioned by  every  decent  citizen. 

It  will  be  interesting  to  know  that  a  paper  has  been  signed 
by  many  of  the  leading  book  publishers  and  dealers  in  New 
York  and  Boston  calling  for  the  enforcement  of  the  law  against 
these  ' '  smut-dealers. ' ' 

The  laws  of  most  of  the  States  say,  "  that  no  obscene,  lewd, 
or  lascivious  book  or  picture  shall  be  sold, ' '  etc. 

Under  common-law  decisions,  the  courts  are  declared  to 
be  "  guardians  of  the  public  morals,  and  therefore  have  juris- 
diction in  such  cases.  Hence  it  follows,  that  an  offence  may 
be  punishable  if  in  its  nature  and  by  its  example  it  tends  to 
the  corruption  of  morals,  although  it  be  not  committed  in 
public."  (2  Archibald,  Crim.  Pr.  and  PI.  p.  218.) 

The  same  authority,  on  page  217,  says  : 

' '  An  indictment  at  common  law  may  be  maintained  for  any 
offence  which  is  against  public  morals  or  decency.  Under 
this  head  may  be  comprehended  every  species  of  representation, 
whether  by  writing,  by  printing,  or  by  any  manner  of  sign  or 
substitute  which  is  indecent  and  contrary  to  public  order." 

The  same  authority  also  says,  page  218  : 

"The  law  was  in  Curl's  case  (King  v.  Curl,  2  Str.  p.  788), 
established  upon  true  principles. 

"  What  tends  to  corrupt  society  was  held  to  be  a  breach  of 
the  peace,  and  punishable  by  indictment 


ARTISTIC  AND   CLASSICAL    TRAPS.  177 

"  The  publication  of  an  obscene  book  is  an  offence  at  com- 
mon  law,  as  it  tends  to  corrupt  the  morals  of  the  king's  sub- 
jects, and  is  against  the  peace  of  the  king. ' ' 

Says  Court  of  Appeals,  8  Phila.  Reports,  p.  453,  Common- 
wealth v.  Landis  : 

"To  justify  publication,  it  must  be  made  for  a  legitimate 
and  useful  purpose,  and  not  from  any  motive  of  mere  gain,  or 
with  a  corrupt  desire  to  debauch  society. 

' '  A  mistaken  view  of  the  prisoner  as  to  the  character  and 
tendency  of  the  publication,  if  the  latter  be  itself  obscene,  will 
not  excuse  his  violation  of  the  law." 

As  illustrating  further  the  last  proposition — the  intent  of  the 
seller — says  the  highest  court  in  England,  in  the  celebrated  case 
of  the  Queen  v.  Hecklin,  3  Eng.  Law  Reports,  Queen's  Bench, 
p.  371  and  372  : 

"  But  then  it  is  said  for  the  appellant,  '  Yes,  but  his  pur- 
pose was  not  to  deprave  the  public  mind  ;  his  purpose  was  to 
expose  the  errors  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  especially  in 
the  matter  of  the  confessional. '  Be  it  so.  The  question  then 
presents  itself  in  this  simple  form  :  May  you  commit  an  offence 
against  the  law,  in  order  that  thereby  you  may  effect  some 
ulterior  object  which  you  have  in  view,  which  may  be  an 
honest  and  even  a  laudable  one  ?  My  answer  is,  emphatically, 
No  !  The  law  says  you  shall  not  publish  an  obscene  work. 
An  obscene  work  is  here  published,  and  a  work  the  obscenity 
of  which  is  so  clear  and  decided  that  it  is  impossible  to  sup- 
pose that  the  man  who  published  it  must  not  have  known  and 
seen  that  the  effect  upon  the  minds  of  many  of  those  into 
whose  hands  it  would  come,  would  be  of  a  mischievous  and 
demoralizing  character.  Is  he  justified  in  doing  that  which 
would  clearly  be  wrong,  legally  as  well  as  morally,  because  he 
thinks  that  some  greater  good  may  be  accomplished  ?' ' 

In  the  above  case  Hecklin  was  an  anti-Romanist,  and  belonged 
to  a  society  of  earnest  men,  seeking  to  correct  what  they  con- 
ceived to  be  base  wrongs  in  the  community.  This  society 
published  this  book  to  inform  earnest  citizens  of  the  facts  con- 


178  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

cerning  the  evils  they  were  seeking  to  overcome.  He  sold  this 
book  at  cost,  to  prominent  persons,  to  impart  to  them  a 
knowledge  of  the  evils  complained  of.  All  the  above  was  con- 
ceded by  the  prosecution.  And  yet  he  was  convicted. 

The  above  excellent  opinion  was  rendered  by  the  full  bench, 
Lord  Chief-Justice  Cockburn  presiding. 

There  is  a  long  line  of  decisions  in  the  higher  courts  in  this 
country  affirming  the  same  principles,  and  this  is  now  the 
settled  law  of  the  land. 

Many  States  have  emphasized  this  by  enacting  statutes  using 
broad  and  specific  language  against  obscene,  "  lewd,"  and  "  in- 
decent" books. 

In  the  last-named  case  that  court  passed  upon  the  question 
first  discussed,  to  wit  :  photographing  works  of  art,  and  selling 
the  same  indiscriminately.  The  court  said  : 

"  What  can  be  more  obscene  than  many  pictures  publicly 
exhibited,  as  the  Venus  in  the  Dulwich  Gallery  ? 

"  It  does  not  follow  that,  because  such  a  picture  is  exhibited 
in  a  public  gallery,  photographs  of  it  might  be  sold  in  the 
streets  with  impunity."  Same  Reports,  p.  365. 

But  these  men  say,  as  an  excuse,  ' '  We  sell  these  works  be- 
cause they  are  sold  everywhere,  and  have  been  recognized  by 
literary  men  of  all  ages.  We  know  they  are  obscene,  and  yet 
the  law  is  not  meant  to  interfere  with  them." 

That  books  have  existed  to  the  present  day  bearing  the  titles 
of  many  of  the  grosser  books  of  the  order  discussed  in  this 
chapter,  no  one  will  dispute.  But  many  are  classics  in  their 
original  language,  and  were  text-books  of  the  century  in  which 
they  were  written.  But  under  these  titles  many  persons  sell 
garbled  and  worthless  (so  far  as  literary  men  are  concerned) 
editions,  but  cry  out  if  objection  be  made  to  the  indiscriminate 
dissemination  of  these  non-genuine  and  offensive  books. 

The  Lord  Chief  Justice's  words  in  the  above  case  will  be  of 
interest  in  this  connection.  He  says  : 

"  I  hold  that,  when  a  man  publishes  a  work  manifestly 
obscene,  he  must  be  taken  to  have  had  the  intention  which  is 


ARTISTIC  AND    CLASSICAL    TRAPS.  179 

implied  from  the  act ;  and  that  as  soon  as  you  have  an  illegal 
act  thus  established,  '  quoad  the  intention,  and  quoad the  act," 
it  does  not  lie  in  the  mouth  of  the  man  who  does  it  to  say, 
'  Well,  I  was  breaking  the  law,  but  I  was  breaking  it  for  some 
wholesome  and  salutary  purpose. '  The  law  does  not  allow 
that ;  you  must  abide  by  the  law,  and  if  you  would  accomplish 
your  object,  you  must  do  it  in  a  legal  manner,  or  let  it  alone  ; 
you  must  not  do  it  in  a  manner  which  is  illegal." 

There  are  numerous  cases  to  sustain  the  above  principles,  in 
the  United  States  as  well  as  in  Europe,  and  the  above  has 
become  the  settled  law  of  these  two  countries. 

Why  should  these  laws  be  set  aside  ? 

Why  should  literary  poison  be  sold  any  more  freely  than 
mineral  or  vegetable  poisons  ?  The  latter,  at  the  worst,  can 
but  kill  the  body.  The  former  not  only  brings  moral  death, 
but  suffers  the  victim  to  live  on  a  wretched  existence  in  the 
world,  corrupt,  and  a  corrupter  of  those  about  him. 

Do  not  forget  that  lust  breeds  crime.  Crime  begets  public 
burdens  to  society,  and  to  the  victim  misery  and  suffering. 

To  the  above  evils  may  be  added  the  reproductions  of  French 
and  Italian  novels,  translated  in  popular  and  cheap  forms. 

Many  of  these  stories  are  little  better  than  histories  of 
brothels  and  prostitutes,  in  these  lust-cursed  nations.  How 
often  are  found,  in  these  villainous  stories,  heroines,  lovely, 
excellent,  cultivated,  wealthy,  and  charming  in  every  way,  who 
have  for  their  lovers  married  men  ;  or,  after  marriage,  lovers 
flock  about  the  charming  young  wife,  enjoying  privileges 
belonging  only  to  the  husband  !  How  often  does  the  young 
wife  in  these  accursed  stories  have  a  lover  more  wealthy  and 
accomplished  than  the  one  to  whom  she  has  plighted  her  love  ! 
Clandestine  meetings  are  described,  and  plots  and  conspiracies 
to  put  the  husband  out  of  the  way  are  not  infrequent. 

What  is  the  lesson  to  the  young  ?  A  light  estimate  upon 
maiden  virtue  and  marriage  vows.  A  putting  of  vile  thoughts 
and  suggestions  into  the  minds  of  the  young.  Sowing  the 
seeds  of  lust. 


l8o  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

These  seeds,  sown  in  the  unregulated  imagination,  overgrow 
a  taste  for  truly  profitable  books,  while  a  dreamy  habit  of 
thought  is  produced  which  unfits  for  grappling  bravely  with  the 
obstacles  of  real  life,  and  in  a  cowardly  spirit  the  dreamer  turns 
away  from  duties  in  practical  life. 

This  class  of  literature  creates  a  desire  for  mental  entertain- 
ment where  these  scenes  most  abound,  hence  so  many  youth 
who  throng  into  low  play-houses.  A  diseased  imagination 
recruits  for  these  foul  dens.  These  books,  furnished  the  young, 
are  like  a  rope  thrown  to  a  drowning  man,  which,  as  soon  as  he 
has  secured  himself  to  it,  is  cast  overboard  with  a  stone  on 
the  other  end.  They  drag  them  down  to  moral  ruin. 

A  most  excellent  little  book,  containing  an  address  on 
' '  Some  Growing  Evils  of  the  Day, ' '  has  been  published  by  the 
Religious  Society  of  Friends  in  Philadelphia,  from  which  note 
the  following,  to  wit  : 

' '  With  the  cultivation  of  what  are  known  as  the  '  fine  arts, ' 
and  through  the  opportunities  which  wealth  affords,  there  have 
been  introduced  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic  many  works  of  the 
acknowledged  masters  in  painting  and  sculpture,  which  are 
commended  as  models  of  art,  and  have  thus  been  accepted  as  a 
standard  to  be  followed.  Some  of  these,  which  are  in  keeping 
with  modes  of  life  and  a  code  of  morals  utterly  at  variance  with 
the  pure  teachings  of  the  gospel,  are  tolerated  and  admired  in 
cultivated  society,  forgetting  that  no  cover  of  artistic  excellence 
or  stamp  of  classical  reputation  counts  for  anything  in  the  divine 
sight  as  an  excuse  for  that  which  prompts  unholy  thoughts  ; 
and  that,  though  '  to  the  pure  all  things  are  pure,'  no  one  will 
be  justified  in  '  putting  an  occasion  to  fall  in  his  brother's 
way.' 

"  The  tendency  of  the  present  day  in  this  direction  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  character  of  many  of  the  paintings  and  engravings 
exhibited  in  art  galleries  or  the  windows  of  print  stores  ;  in  the 
pieces  of  statuary  introduced  into  public  grounds,  or  in  the 
ornamentation  of  public  buildings,  wherein  undraped  figures 
occupy  conspicuous  places.  Has  there  not  also  been  a  grow- 


ARTISTIC  AND    CLASSICAL   TRAPS.  181 

ing  relaxation  of  those  rules  of  propriety  which  were  once  suf- 
ficient to  exclude  such  representations  from  private  houses  ; 
and  do  we  not  now  find  in  the  homes  of  the  wealthy,  and  even 
those  of  professing  Christians,  specimens  both  of  painting  and 
sculpture  whose  tendency  cannot  be  in  the  direction  of  a  high 
order  of  purity  or  virtue  ?" 

After  referring  to  the  loose  and  trashy  publications  of  the 
day,  it  with  much  force  adds  : 

' '  Rising  in  the  social  scale,  we  find  on  the  counters  of  most 
bookstores,  and  in  the  bookcases  of  many  professors  of  religion, 
the  complete  works  of  poets  who  have,  in  some  of  their  writ- 
ings, abandoned  their  exalted  gifts  to  ministering  to  the  lowest 
and  most  excitable  passions  of  our  weak  human  nature,  in  the 
most  seductive  language.  The  impure  thoughts  and  images 
infused  into  the  moral  being  by  this  unhallowed  poetry,  like 
certain  poisons  taken  into  the  blood,  may  remain  there  for  life, 
to  be  only  rendered  inert  by  continual  resort  to  Divine  grace. 
How  can  any  doubt  that  He  who  '  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to 
behold  iniquity,'  will  '  sweep  away  as  the  refuge  of  lies'  the 
plea  of  an  accepted  classical  standing  as  a  sanction  for  immorality  ; 
and  that  He  will  hold  to  an  awful  accountability  the  possession 
of  exalted  powers  of  mind  and  feeling  deliberately  employed  in 
estranging  from  Him  those  for  whom  Christ  died  ;  and  that 
He  will  not  hold  them  clear  who  further  their  work  by  toler- 
ating and  excusing  it  ?" 

Will  not  decent  men  and  women  help  drive  back  this  torrent 
of  filth  which  is  coming  up  over  the  land  ? 

Can  it  be  that  natures  so  charged  with  the  beautiful  that 
their  "every  touch  was  a  thing  of  beauty,  have  left  nothing 
behind  them  of  excellence  except  the  few  unsavory  tracings  of 
their  work  that  are  now  paraded  before  the  world  ?  Can  it  be 
true  that  men  whose  high  order  of  wit  and  genius  the  world 
admires  are  robbed  of  aught  that  would  make  the  world  better, 
or  that  would  elevate  mankind  in  the  social  scale,  when  that 
which  is  foul  in  their  thoughts  is  eliminated  before  it  is  allowed 
to  come  in  contact  with  the  immature  minds  of  the  present 


1 82  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

age  ?  Is  poison  any  the  less  deadly  because  it  is  disguised  to 
sight  or  taste  ?  Will  parents  permit  their  children  to  swallow 
prussic  acid  because  in  its  liquid  state  it  is  white  like  water  ? 
Will  they  present  their  loved  ones  with  a  casket  set  with  jewels, 
knowing  that  within  there  is  a  deadly  serpent  coiled  up,  ready 
to  spring  out  when  the  joyous  recipient  shall  open  the  precious 

gift? 

Is  there  any  argument  that  can  be  advanced,  consistent  with 
morals  or  common  decency,  why  the  filthy  side  of  life,  or  the 
reeking  imaginings  of  ancient  or  modern  writers,  should  be 
served  up  in  the  beautiful  form,  woven  out  of  choicest  rhetoric, 
or  drawn  in  lines  of  beauty  by  minds  especially  endowed  with 
highest  attainments,  but  which,  in  these  productions  of  inde- 
cency, forget  the  hands  which  made  and  endowed  them  ? 

To-day  the  vile  in  "  art"  and  "  classic"  is  wrenched  from 
its  proper  and  narrow  limits,  and  made  to  cater  to  the  depraved 
natures  in  the  community,  or,  counterfeited,  is  flaunted  before 
the  eyes  of  the  pure  and  impure  alike,  and  is  swelling  the  cur- 
rent of  corruption  which  is  pouring  like  a  torrent  over  the  land, 
sweeping  moral  purity  into  an  abyss  of  ruin. 

Like  the  worm  that  bores  into  the  heart  of  the  tree,  causing 
the  leaves  to  fade,  the  fruit  to  shrivel  and  drop,  the  boughs  to 
die,  and  the  life-current  to  cease  to  flow,  these  gross  thoughts 
and  scenes  are  destroying  the  choicest  fruits  of  our  present 
civilization,  supplanting  patriotism  with  self-gratification ; 
while  obedience  to  the  laws  of  God,  which  is  the  surest  means 
of  safety  and  success,  is  supplanted  with  license  to  wrong- 
doing, thus  checking  the  current  of  moral  purity,  putting  a 
premium  on  loose  living  in  society,  and  sowing  infidelity  in  the 
most  sacred  precincts  of  the  home.  Few  men  or  women  who 
display  beautiful  paintings,  or  copies  of  the  same,  of  the  lewd 
in  art,  or  of  the  nude,  ever  give  a  thought  to  what  impressions 
are  being  made  upon  the  budding  lives  about  them. 

Advocates  of  this  indiscriminate  exposure  and  sale  of  these 
things  many  times  mourn  that  their  children  have  gone  to  the 


ARTISTIC  AND   CLASSICAL    TRAPS.  183 

bad,  and  justify  or  apologize  for  their  downfall  with  the  re. 
mark  that  "  All  youth  must  sow  their  wild  oats  !" 

The  very  science  of  these  evils  is  to  apologize  for  crimes 
which  flow  from  them — lives  of  impurity.  It  is  absurd  to 
argue  that  because  these  scenes  are  beautifully  transferred  to 
canvas  or  clothed  in  flowery  verse  or  elegant  prose,  that  their 
power  for  evil  is  lessened  !  As  well  say  the  serpent  in  the 
casket  will  not  bite. 

They  leave  a  poison  that  will  not  out,  a  stain  that  age  does 
not  decrease,  a  force  that  will  not  down. 

Unpopular  though  this  sentiment  may  be,  yet  these  facts  are 
forced  upon  my  mind  by  the  evidences  of  moral  decay  to  be 
seen  on  every  side.  Elegant  dress,  lavish  expenditure,  proud 
position,  and  arrogant  ways — none  of  them  makes  a  pure 
mind,  a  noble  character,  nor  prevents  the  evils  of  lust  from 
exerting  themselves  upon  the  inner  nature  of  mankind.  Those 
who  have  money  to  gratify  every  wish  and  hide  their  crook- 
edness are  often  the  ones  most  susceptible  to  these  influences. 

For  a  time  they  keep  their  vile  living  from  public  notice,  but 
at  last  the  harvest  of  this  sowing  comes  in  the  shape  of  ruined 
homes  and  divorce  scandals  in  the  court 


CHAPTER  XII. 

INFIDEL    TRAPS,    LIBERAL    TRAPS,    ETC. 

THESE  come  last,  but  not  least  They  come  after  the 
criminal  and  obscene,  and  in  some  respects  are  worse,  in  that 
while  they  pretend  to  be  far  above  religion  and  laws,  they 
undertake  the  defence  of  all  the  foregoing  evils. 

Liberals  and  infidels  are  the  only  class  who  have  undertaken, 
by  a  systematic  and  organized  effort,  to  defend  the  dealers  in 
obscene  literature,  or  repeal  the  laws  of  Congress  prohibiting 
the  transmission  through  the  mails  of  this  infamous  matter. 

As  I  shall  have  occasion  to  speak  of  "  liberals,"  it  is  desir- 
able that  the  reader  keep  in  mind  that  whatever  is  said  refers 
strictly  to  the  "  repeal  "  element  of  the  National  Liberal  League, 
and  to  no  other  class  of  so-called  liberals.  The  respectable 
infidel  is  not  even  referred  to,  but  simply  those  who  stand  in 
the  forefront,  zealous  to  be  known  as  opposed  to  God  and  re- 
ligion, and  who  by  their  blasphemous  speeches  and  publica- 
tions are  putting  to  shame  honest  infidels.  Every  person  must 
respect  the  infidel  who  says,  ' '  I  cannot  see  nor  understand 
these  matters  of  religion  as  you  do  ;  I  wish  I  could."  There 
is  a  vast  difference  between  such  a  one  and  the  one  who  seeks 
by  scoffs  and  sneers  to  wound  the  feelings  of  those  who  differ 
from  him,  or  who  makes  a  living  by  blaspheming  the  name  of 
God,  and  discusses  those  subjects  that  most  closely  concern  the 
interests  of  the  soul  so  as  to  provoke  laughter  and  applause 
from  thoughtless  ones.  If  newspaper  reports  and  the  printed 
speeches  of  Mr.  Ingersoll  are  to  be  credited,  his  forte  is  to  dis- 
cuss the  weightiest  and  most  solemn  subjects  so  as  to  provoke 
from  his  audiences  "laughter,"  "loud  laughter,"  "shouts 
of  laughter, ' '  and  ' '  applause. ' ' 


INFIDEL   TRAPS,  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.          185 

The  National  Liberal  League  through  its  officers  has  become 
the  champion  of  obscenity.  This  league  at  its  conventions  has 
adopted  resolutions  to  repeal  laws,  and  along  with  these,  reso- 
lutions of  condolence  and  sympathy  for  and  indorsement  of 
men  of  basest  character — men  who  have  been  convicted  and 
who  were  at  the  time  in  State  Prison,  serving  sentences  for 
sending  obscene  matter  by  mail. 

The  Liberals,  who  have  several  times  held  conventions  at 
Watkins,  N.  Y. ,  have  made  themselves  conspicuous,  more  than 
once,  by  selling  books  which  the  courts  and  prosecuting  attor- 
neys have  declared  to  be  obscene.  The  president  and  secretary 
of  this  league  prior  to  1882,  and  since  the  Syracuse  convention 
in  1878,  have  been  active  in' defending  persons  charged  with 
selling  obscene  matter,  and  have  organized  a  society  called  the 
National  Defence  Association,  composed  of  ex-convicted  smut- 
dealers  and  Liberals,  to  defend  those  so  charged.  Reception 
after  reception  has  been  accorded  persons  who  have  been  con- 
victed and  sentenced  to  imprisonment  for  sending  obscene 
matter  by  mail,  upon  their  release  from  jail.  Resolution  after 
resolution  has  been  passed  to  suppress  the  agency,  active  to 
crush  out  obscenity,  until  one  reading  the  reports  of  the  con- 
ventions of  this  league  and  its  auxiliaries  would  suppose  that 
the  prime  object  of  interest  and  importance  was  to  see  who 
could  say  the  bitterest  things  against  the  present  writer,  or  draw 
the  cunningest  worded  resolution  to  repeal  the  laws  of  Congress 
above  referred  to. 

Of  the  Liberal  convention  held  at  Watkins  in  August 
1882,  the  New  York  Herald  says  : 

' '  If  you  might  apply  theological  terms  to  the  proceedings  of 
such  a  convention,  it  might  be  said  that  Bob  Ingersoll  is  their 
God  and  Anthony  Comstock  their  devil.  Allusions  to  the  first 
point,  and  they  are  very  frequent,  are  always  received  with 
delight,  while  the  English  language  is  hard  put  to  it  to  furnish 
epithets  of  abhorrence  for  the  latter. ' ' 

Mr.  Ingersoll  is  much  like  the  white  elephant  in  a  menagerie, 
in  a  story  told  by  Rev.  Mr.  Spurgeon,  that  broke  loose  and  then 


1 86  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

opened  the  cages  containing  lions  and  tigers,  which,  only  for 
the  watchfulness  of  the  keepers,  would  have  escaped  and  done 
great  mischief.  But  Mr.  Ingersoll  goes  farther.  He  not  only 
breaks  the  fastenings  which  are  the  only  restraints  of  vice,  but 
he  by  ridicule  and  laughter  seeks  to  lull  the  watchman,  Con- 
science, to  sleep,  so  that  the  soul  shall  have  no  monitor  to 
sound  a  warning  or  close  the  entrance  of  license  to  wrong- 
doing. 

Another  significant  point  may  be  found  in  the  fact  that  the 
books  substituted  to-day  and  sold  in  the  place  of  the  most 
obscene,  by  the  former  venders  of  obscenity,  are  Mr.  Ingersoll' s 
lectures,  and  infidel  books  and  papers  noted  for  their  ranting 
blasphemy  and  shocking  expressions.  Pictures  of  his  face  are 
now  seen  on  news-stands  and  shelves  where  formerly  obscene 
and  loathsome  books  were  exposed  for  sale. 

These  obscenity  defenders  shout  ' '  liberty' '  and  ' '  freedom' ' 
on  all  occasions.  It  is  chronic  with  many  of  them. 

Their  strongest  argument  is  to  misstate  a  fact,  or  to  state  it  in 
such  a  way  as  to  make  a  great  wrong  appear  where  no  wrong 
is,  and  where,  if  the  truth  were  known,  a  laudable  deed  had 
been  done.  This  is  their  practice  in  dealing  with  their 
enemies,  or  with  those  who  oppose  them.  Here  is  the  key  to 
many  of  the  specious  arguments  put  forth  against  God's  word  ; 
the  text  is  robbed  of  its  context ;  facts  are  misstated.  This 
point  is  illustrated  as  follows  :  Suppose  one  of  these  men  has  a 
grudge  against  an  eminent  surgeon,  who  had  performed  a  most 
skilful  operation  upon  a  boy,  and  by  amputating  a  limb  has 
saved  his  life.  The  enemy  would  go  about  it  in  something 
of  this  manner  :  "  You  see  that  man,"  pointing  to  him  ;  "  he 
is  a  heartless  wretch.  Why,  sir,  I  saw  him  take  a  knife  and 
cut  a  little  boy's  hand  off."  The  fact  is  stated,  but  stated  so 
as  to  convey  a  false  impression,  deceive  the  hearer,  and  imply 
a  wrong  where  none  existed. 

This  is  their  practice  in  speaking  of  the  act  of  Congress  of 
1873,  and  as  amended  in  1876,  making  obscene  and  indecent 
publications  non-mailable  ;  in  referring  to  the  "  methods"  and 


INFIDEL   TRAPS,  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.          187 

means  used  to  enforce  these  laws  ;  in  considering  the  conduct 
of  criminals  whom  they  defend,  as  well  as  in  presenting  their 
own  acts  and  schemes  to  deceive  the  people,  by  raising  the  hue 
and  cry  that  "liberty"  and  "freedom"  are  invaded  by  the 
enforcement  of  these  laws. 

They  are  supremely  Mr.  Ingersoll's  tactics  when  he  goes 
about  the  country  interjecting  into  his  sneering,  scoffing,  and 
blasphemous  lectures,  his  solemn  declarations  that  he  never 
favored  the  repeal  of  the  laws  against  obscene  literature.  He 
says  he  ' '  never  signed  such  a  petition. ' ' 

Is  he  a  trusty  leader  who  wilfully  prevaricates  or  cunningly 
deceives  by  holding  back  a  part  of  the  truth,  when  he  pretends 
to  lay  himself  open  to  the  public  ?  What  are  the  facts  ? 

In  February,  1878,  there  was  presented  in  Congress,  to  the 
House  of  Representatives,  a  petition,  a  duplicate  of  which  is 
printed  below,  headed  by  the  name  of  Robert  G.  Ingersoll. 
This  was  heralded  throughout  the  land  the  next  day  by  an 
Associated  Press  despatch  from  Washington,  announcing  that, 
"  Seventy  thousand  freemen,  headed  by  Colonel  Robert  G. 
Ingersoll,  had  petitioned  Congress  to  repeal  the  laws  known  as 
the  '  Comstock  laws,'  on  account  of  their  unconstitutionally, 
and  the  outrages  committed  under  them  by  Anthony  Com- 
stock. ' ' 

Some  of  the  papers  at  Washington  made  vigorous  efforts  to 
carry  this  "  Liberal  "  movement  to  a  success,  and  almost  daily 
had  editorials  in  favor  of  it.  Mr.  Ingersoll  resided  there,  and  the 
entire  movement  centred  in  him.  His  was  the  only  name 
connected  with  it  that  received  notice  from  the  press  or  the 
committees  of  Congress.  The  Liberal  press  lauded  him  and 
extolled  him  in  highest  terms  of  praise  for  heading  this  move- 
ment. But  he  says  he  did  not  favor  this  movement.  Did  he 
not  know  that  his  name  was  at  the  head  of  the  list  ?  Did  he 
not  consent  to  have  it  put  there,  if  he  did  not  put  it  there  him- 
self ?  (The  latter  is  believed  to  be  true. )  Did  he,  by  any 
word,  sign,  or  token,  attempt  to  undeceive  the  House  of 
Representatives,  or  denounce  the  fraud  and  forgery  if  he  did 


1 88  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

not  sign  it  ?  Did  he  enter  a  single  protest  against  the  lauda- 
tions of  the  Liberal  press  because  of  his  heading  this  movement  ? 
Did  not  he  put  his  name  there,  and  knowingly  permit  it  to 
stand  there,  with  whatever  influence  it  might  afford  the  move- 
ment to  repeal  these  righteous  laws  ? 

What  did  he  do  ?  There  is  little  need  of  arguments  when 
simple  facts  and  conclusions  are  at  hand.  The  following  is  a 
verbatim  copy  of  a  paper  on  file  in  the  office  of  the  secretary 
of  the  Senate  at  Washington,  copied  with  my  own  hand,  and 
the  letters  are  also  verbatim  copies  of  letters  which  were  sent 
to  the  Senate  Committees  : 

I  found  the  document  after  Mr.  Ingersoll  had  made  his  sol- 
emn declaration  in  the  Brooklyn  Music  Hall  in  1882,  in  reply 
to  Rev.  Mr.  Talmage,  that  he  ' '  never  favored  the  repeal  of  these 
laws." 

We  were  obliged  to  search  long  and  zealously  to  find  this 
precious  document,  and  the  tell-tale  letters  filed  with  it,  and 
two  or  three  times  almost  despaired  of  finding  it. 

Patient  search  was  at  last  rewarded,  to  wit : 

' '  To  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the  United  States 
of  America  in  Congress  assembled. 

"The  petition  of  the  undersigned  citizens  of  the  United 
States,  residing  at  and  near  the  places  set  opposite  their  names, 
respectfully  shows  : 

"  i .  That  they  are  loyal  and  devoted  supporters  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  United  States  and  of  the  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment, and  that  they  are  so  principally  from  the  conviction 
that  under  them  personal  liberty,  freedom  of  conscience,  of  the 
press,  and  of  the  expression  of  opinion,  together  with  equality 
before  the  law  and  the  department  of  government  had  been  for 
the  first  time  substantially  secured  among  men  ;  and  your  peti- 
tioners rejoiced  in  the  belief  that  the  rights  thus  guaranteed  had 
in  our  own  country  forever  abrogated  every  form  of  political, 
moral,  and  religious  persecution  and  inquisition  ; 

"  That  without  the  knowledge  of  your  petitioners,  and,  as 


INFIDEL  TRAPS,  LIBERAL  TRAPS,  ETC.         189 

they  believe,  without  the  knowledge  of  any  great  number  of  the 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  certain  acts  were  procured  to  be 
passed  by  Congress  in  1873  (since  incorporated  into  the  U.  S. 
Revised  Statutes,  as  §§  1785,  3878,  3893,  5389,  2491),  for  the 
ostensible  purpose  of  suppressing  '  obscene  literature,'  etc., 
which  reversed  the  policy  and  practice  of  our  government  since 
its  foundation  ; 

"3.  That  in  the  belief  of  your  petitioners  the  government  of 
the  United  States  was  established  under  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  the  Constitution  for  the  more  general  pur- 
poses of  government  only,  and  for  the  protection,  and  not  for 
the  limitation,  of  the  rights  aforesaid.  That  to  that  end,  i.e., 
'  to  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  ourselves  and  our  pos- 
terity' Congress  was  prohibited  from  making  laws  affecting 
religion  or  conscience,  or  '  abridging  the  freedom  of  the  press, 
or  of  speech,'  or  the  right  of  petition  ;  and  the  people  were 
'  to  be  secure  in  their  persons,  houses,  papers,  and  effects, '  etc.  ; 
That  the  true  construction  and  meaning  of  these  great  charters 
of  liberty  were  declared  by  their  authors,  the  founders  of  our 
government,  to  be,  that  all  persons  were,  and  of  right  ought 
to  be,  equal  in  their  protection  and  privileges  before  the  law, 
the  courts,  and  all  departments  of  the  government,  without 
discrimination  or  question  as  to  their  social,  moral,  political, 
or  religious  character.  That  the  statutes  aforesaid  are,  in  the 
opinion  of  your  petitioners,  plain  violations  of  the  letter  and 
spirit  of  these  fundamental  principles  of  our  government ;  and 
that  they  are  capable  of,  and  are,  in  fact,  being  used  for  the 
purposes  of  moral  and  religious  persecution,  whereby  the 
dearest  and  most  precious  rights  of  the  people  are  being  griev- 
ously violated  under  the  forms  of  legal  inquisition,  fines,  for- 
feitures, and  imprisonment  ; 

' '  4.  And  your  petitioners  further  show  that  they  are  con- 
vinced that  all  attempts  of  civil  government,  whether  State  or 
national,  to  enforce  or  to  favor  particular  religious,  social, 
moral,  or  medical  opinions,  or  schools  of  thought  or  practice, 
are  not  only  unconstitutional  but  ill-advised,  contrary  to  the 


1 9o  TKAPS  FOR   THE  YOUNG. 

spirit  and  progress  of  our  age,  and  almost  certain  in  the  end 
to  defeat  any  beneficial  objects  intended.  That  mental,  moral, 
and  physical  health  and  safety  are  better  secured  and  preserved 
by  virtue  resting  upon  liberty  and  knowledge,  than  upon 
ignorance  enforced  by  governmental  supervision.  That  even 
error  may  be  safely  left  free,  where  truth  is  free  to  combat  it. 
That  the  greatest  danger  to  a  republic  is  the  insidious  repression 
of  the  liberties  of  the  people.  That  whenever  publications, 
pictures,  articles,  acts,  or  exhibitions  directly  tending  to  pro- 
duce crime  or  pauperism  are  wantonly  exposed  to  the  public, 
or  obtruded  upon  individuals,  the  several  States  and  Territories 
have  provided,  or  may  be  safely  left  to  provide,  suitable 
remedies. 

"  Wherefore  your  petitioners  pray  that  the  statutes  aforesaid 
may  be  repealed,  or  materially  modified,  so  that  they  cannot  be 
used  to  abridge  the  freedom  of  the  press  or  of  conscience,  or 
to  destroy  the  liberty  and  equality  of  the  people  before  the  law 
and  departments  of  the  government,  on  account  of  any  relig- 
ious, moral,  political,  medical,  or  commercial  grounds  or  pre- 
texts whatsoever. 

"  And  your  petitioners  will  ever  pray,  etc.,  etc. 

ROB'T  G.  INGERSOLL,  Chairman Illinois. 

CHARLES  CASE Indiana. 

DARIUS  LYMAN Ohio. 

J.  C.  SMITH. Massachusetts. 

JNO.  B.  WOLFF New  York  City. 

J.  WEED  COREY,  ex-officio,  Secretary. .  Penn  Yan,  N.  Y. 
W.  W.  JACKSON,  ex-ojficio Washington,  D.  C. 

and  fifty  thousand  others  attached  to  petition  2100  feet  long, 
filed  with  House  Com.  on  Revision  of  the  Laws." 

While  Mr.  Ingersoll  denies  signing  this  particular  paper,  will 
he  inform  the  public,  when  next  he  attempts  to  raise  himself 
above  his  Maker  by  blasphemous  ridicule  for  ' '  fifty  cents  per 
head,"  whether  it  is  not  true  that  he  sent,  or  caused  to  be  sent, 
to  Senator  Teller  the  above  petition  ?  and  if  he  did  not  apply 


INFIDEL  TRAPS,  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.         191 

in  person  either  to  this,  or  the  Judiciary  Committee,  where  this 
was  afterward  sent,  for  a  day  to  be  fixed  when  he  could  be 
heard  on  behalf  of  his  petition  ?  I  was  in  Washington  at  the 
time,  and  was  so  informed  by  the  chairman  and  clerk  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee,  and  arranged  to  be  telegraphed  for  when 
he  should  appear. 

Letter  on  file  with  Petition. 

"  WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  March  23,  1878. 

' '  Hon.  I.  P.  CHRISTIANCY,  U.  S.  Senate,  Chairman  Senate  Com- 
mittee on  Revision  of  Laws. 

' '  DEAR  SIR  :  Will  you  be  kind  enough  to  give  the  committee, 
of  which  Colonel  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  is  chairman,  a  hearing 
before  your  committee,  upon  the  subject  of  repealing  or  materi- 
ally modifying  certain  postal  laws  referred  to  in  the  petition  of 
fifty  thousand  citizens,  presented  to  the  Senate  by  Senator  Teller 
on  the  1 2th  inst. ,  and  referred  to  your  committee. 

"  We  will  not  occupy  much  of  the  time  of  your  committee, 
but  we  deem  it  necessary  to  explain  briefly  the  nature  and 
scope  of  the  laws  we  deem  it  wise  and  prudent  to  repeal  or 
modify  upon  constitutional  grounds. 

' '  Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

"  J.  WEED  COREY, 

"  Sec.  Com.  of  Seven  for  50,000  petitioners, 
"  920  F.  Street,  Wash.,  D.  C." 

Finding  that  their  liberal  movement  was  not  receiving  the 
prompt  attention  that  they  desired  ;  not  content  with  the  false- 
hoods in  the  original  petition,  they  added  to  it  by  inserting  still 
more  falsehoods,  which  f or  perspicuity  s  sake  are  printed  in  italics 
in  the  following  letter  : 

"WASHINGTON,  D.  C,  April  15,  1878. 
"To  the  Committee  on  the  Revision  of  the  Laws  in  the  Senate  of 

the  United  States. 

' '  GENTLEMEN  :  The  Committee  of  Seven,  in  behalf  of  more 
than  fifty  thousand  petitioners  (petition  over  two  thousand  feet 


192  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

in  length,  on  file  with  the  House  Committee  on  Revision  of 
the  Laws),  praying  for  the  repeal  or  modification  of  certain  laws 
executed  ostensibly  to  prevent  the  passage  of  so-called  obscene 
literature  through  the  mails  of  the  United  States,  but  which 
laws  have  been  and  are  being  enforced  to  destroy  the  liberty  of  con- 
science in  matters  of  religion,  against  the  freedom  of  the  press,  and 
to  the  great  hurt  of  the  learned  professions,  would  respectfully  pray 
to  be  heard  by  your  committee  at  as  early  a  date  as  it  is  possi- 
bly convenient  for  you  to  designate. 

"  Colonel  Robert  G.  Ingersoll,  of  Illinois,  the  chairman  of 
our  committee,  will  speak  for  us  in  behalf  of  the  petitioners 
above  mentioned. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

"  J.  WEED  COREY, 

' '  for  the  Committee,  etc. 

"  To  Hon.  I.  P.  Christiancy,  Hon.  S.  Matthews,  Hon.  David 
Davis,  Hon.  W.  A.  Wallace,  and  Hon.  Francis  Kernan." 

From  personal  knowledge  I  certify  to  the  fact  that  up  to  this 
time  not  a  person  had  been  arrested  upon  any  matter  not 
clearly  obscene  and  within  the  purview  of  this  law.  But  it  was 
a  liberal  movement,  and  to  be  liberal  with  the  truth — omitting 
wherever  it  serves  them  best — is  truly  ' '  Liberal. ' '  They  seem 
to  care  nothing  for  truth  so  long  as  they  carry  their  point. 

This  ' '  Liberal ' '  movement  to  repeal  the  laws  as  headed  by 
Ingersoll,  was  backed  by  one  of  the  basest  conspiracies  ever 
concocted  against  a  holy  cause.  The  first  move  was  a  circular 
certifying  that  the  law  was  unconstitutional,  and,  after  the 
methods  described  above,  they  withholding  the  fact  that  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  had  in  effect  declared  it 
constitutional.  They  there  certified  to  parties  being  arrested 
for  sending  by  mail  "  purely  legitimate  articles,"  when  the  fact 
was  the  parties  referred  to  were  arrested  for  mailing  the  most 
obscene  matter.  In  one  instance  they  described  one  of  their 
martyrs  to  the  cause  of  "  liberty"  and  "  freedom"  as  torn  from 
the  bosom  of  his  family,  for  sending  an  "  article  containing  a 


INFIDEL   TRAPS.  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.          193 

salutary  lesson  to  young  men,"  when  the  matter  sent  was  of 
the  vilest  character  possible,  and  the  man  had  been  convicted 
for  the  third  time,  and  sentenced  accordingly.  They  then 
added  to  this  circular  the  names  of  certain  reputable  firms,  as 
certifying  to  their  statements,  while  the  fact  is  their  names  were 
forgeries. 

Then  these  circulars  to  the  number  of  15,000,  if  the  princi- 
pal mover  is  to  be  believed,  were  sent  out  to  the  editors,  pub- 
lishers, etc.,  of  the  country  to  create  a  public  sentiment  against 
this  cause  by  manufacturing,  on  this  forged  and  false  basis, 
newspaper  editorials  and  attacks.  Then  they  sent  out  copies  of 
the  above  petition  for  signatures,  accompanied  by  this  circular, 
and  by  keeping  prominent  the  fact  that  Ingersoll  headed  this 
movement,  about  50,000  signatures  were  secured.  Fraud  was 
apparent  on  the  face  of  these  petitions,  as  scores,  and  I  might 
almost  say  hundreds,  of  names  appeared  written  by  one  and 
the  same  hand,  as  though  a  directory  had  been  in  part  appro- 
priated by  some  of  the  zealots  of  repeal. 

Having  prevented  the  Liberal  demand  for  repeal,  they  then 
sought  to  make  the  writer  so  odious  that  he  would  not  be 
believed.  Says  one  of  their  papers  :  "  With  thousands  of 
these  petitions  laid  before  Congress,  backed  by  the  efforts  that 
will  be  made  by  persons  of  influence,  with  an  exhibit  of  the 
dastardly  and  villainous  conduct  of  special  agent  and  represen- 
tative of  the  Y.  M.  C.  A. ,  Anthony  Comstock. ' ' 

After  six  weeks  of  plotting  and  scheming  they  at  last  secured 
a  hearing  before  the  House  Committee  on  the  Revision  of  the 
Laws,  to  which  their  petition  had  been  sent.  In  the  mean  time 
the  duplicate  Ingersoll  petition  above  printed  had  been  sent  to 
the  Senate  Committee,  and  the  repeated  demands  of  the  "  Com- 
mittee of  Seven"  of  which  he  was  chairman,  had  been  made, 
that  an  early  day  be  fixed  when  he  might  be  heard  on  behalf 
of  the  petitioners. 

After  the  petition  had  been  received  in  the  House,  the  next 
' '  Liberal ' '  move  was  to  publish  a  long  article  entitled,  ' '  Life 
and  Crimes  of  Anthony  Comstock,"  charging  all  manner  of 


194  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

false  and  infamous  things  to  make  me  odious.  This  was 
written  by  a  scoundrel  whom  I  caught  committing  a  felony, 
and  who  afterward  attempted  my  life  as  I  came  out  of  court, 
by  coming  behind  me,  spitting  in  my  face,  and  then,  as  I 
turned,  cutting  my  head  open  with  his  cane.  As  a  result  he 
dropped  the  cane  and  lay  down  in  a  corner  by  the  foot  of  the 
stairs. 

The  papers  containing  this  grave  attack  upon  myself  were 
scattered  by  thousands.  A  copy  was  sent  to  every  Congress- 
man. Then,  as  though  this  was  not  ' '  liberal ' '  enough  to 
suit  even  the  worst  of  them,  the  following  false  and  malicious 
charge  was  telegraphed  over  the  country  from  Washington,  to  wit: 

"  Anthony  Comstock,  who  claims  to  be  special  agent  of  the 
Post-Office  Department  for  the  Suppression  of  Vice,  etc.,  is 
being  made  a  martyr  of  in  five  cities  to  the  tune  of  eleven 
indictments  by  the  grand  juries,  one  United  States  District 
Attorney  alone  having  fifteen  separate  and  distinct  counts  in 
one  indictment  for  violation  of  the  postal  laws  and  acts  of  Con- 
gress. ' ' 

It  seems  superfluous  to  say  that  there  is  not  one  word  of 
truth  in  this.  This  system  of  warfare  is  purely  Liberal. 
Their  idea  was,  that  (having  had  one  day's  hearing  before  the 
Congressional  Committee,  and  the  matter  to  come  up  the  fol- 
lowing week),  by  distributing  these  libels,  purporting  to  be 
the  "  dastardly  acts"  of  the  writer,  and  then  telegraphing  this 
"  villainous  conduct,"  to  be  printed  by  the  newspapers  of  the 
land — that  by  these  extraordinary  means  they  would  be  able  to 
secure  an  unfavorable  report  from  the  Committee  of  the  House, 
whether  the  special  Ingersoll  petition  could  be  forwarded  to  a 
hearing  or  not. 

Man  proposes,  but  God  disposes.  Notwithstanding  the  com- 
bined movement  of  about  160  leagues,  headed  by  the  great 
Apostle  of  Infidelity,  one  man,  trusting  in  and  praying  to  the 
God  they  rejected  and  reviled,  triumphed,  even  when  they  had 
endeavored  for  weeks  to  bury  him  by  Liberal  lies,  obloquy,  and 
disgrace. 


INFIDEL   TRAPS,  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.         195 

Verily,  it  is  better  to  trust  God  than  to  put  confidence  in 
men.  I  cannot  take  time  and  space  here  to  give  the  details  of 
this  -very  exciting  and  interesting  part  of  the  history  of  our 
work.  It  is  given  with  great  and  thrilling  minuteness  in  a 
book  entitled  "  Frauds  Exposed,"*  by  the  author. 

Did  Congress  recognize  Ingersoll's  efforts  ?  Let  the  follow- 
ing report  of  the  Committee  of  the  House  reply  : 

"Report. 

' '  The  Committee  on  the  Revision  of  the  Laws,  to  whom 
was  referred  the  petition  of  Robert  G.  Ingersoll  and  others, 
praying  for  the  repeal  or  modification  of  §§  1785,  3878,  3893, 
5389,  and  2491,  of  the  Revised  Statutes,  have  had  the  same 
under  consideration,  and  have  heard  the  petitioners  at  length. 

"  In  the  opinion  of  your  committee,  the  Post-Office  was  not 
established  to  carry  instruments  of  vice,  or  obscene  writings, 
indecent  pictures,  or  lewd  books.  Your  committee  believe  that 
the  statutes  in  question  do  not  violate  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  and  ought  not  to  be  changed  ;  they  recommend, 
therefore,  that  the  prayer  of  the  said  petition  be  denied." 

To  be  thus  defeated,  by  two  men  who  appeared  before  this 
committee  (Mr.  Samuel  Colgate  and  the  writer  being  the  only 
ones  present  to  oppose  them),  was  a  very  bitter  disappointment 
to  these  Liberal  obscenity  defenders.  Then,  again,  was  it  not 
an  argument  against  the  teachings  of  the  head-petitioner  about 
the  Bible's  being  false  and  unreliable? 

' '  One  shall  chase  a  thousand,  and  two  shall  put  ten  thousand 
to  flight. ' ' 

Here  two,  who  trusted  in  and  prayed  to  God,  put  fifty  thou- 
sand to  defeat. 

' '  The  wrath  of  man  shall  praise  Him,  and  the  remainder  of 
wrath  will  He  restrain." 

*  This  book  will  be  supplied  to  any  friends  of  our  cause,  at  special 
rates,  upon  application  to  the  writer,  at  his  office,  150  Nassau  Street, 
New  York. 


196  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

This  defeat  was  too  much  for  the  leader's  special  petition  in 
the  Senate.  Despite  the  egotism  of  the  Committee  of  Seven, 
in  supposing  that  their  names  were  so  weighty  as  to  move  the 
great  Senate  of  the  United  States  of  America,  we  find  this  pre- 
cious document  filed  with  the  following  indorsement,  to  wit  : 

"45  Cong.,  2  Sess. 

"  Petition  of  R.  G.  Ingersoll  and  other 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  praying  the 
repeal  or  modification  of  certain  sections 
of  the  Revised  Statutes  of  the  United  States 
regulating  the  transmission  through  the 
U.  S.  mails  of  certain  classes  of  literature, 
figures,  etc. 

"  1878,  Mar.  12.  Referred  to  the  Com. 
on  the  Revision  of  the  Laws. 

"1878,  May  15.  Com.  discharged,  and 
referred  to  the  Com.  on  the  Judiciary. 

Christiancy  dir'ct'd. 
"  Judiciary  Com. 

"  March  7,  1879.  Returned  to  the  Secry's 
office  by  Senate. 

"No  action." 

Did  R.  G.  Ingersoll  favor  repeal  ?  Every  honest  man  says 
yes.  Does  he  deceive  his  cheering  audiences  when  he  denies 
it  ?  Yes.  Bat  Liberals  say  no.  This,  interpreted  correctly, 
means  the  same  as  a  non-Liberal  yes.  We  must  apply  a 
reversed  order  to  their  doings  and  sayings,  to  get  at  the  truth 
of  a  matter. 

Now  what  are  Liberal  publications  doing  for  the  young  ? 
What  influences  are  they  exerting  on  their  lives,  and  what  is  the 
harvest  ? 

We  have  found  that  they  defend  obscenity  and  favor  the 
repeal  of  the  laws  made  to  suppress  it.  It  will  be  interesting 
to  consider,  in  this  connection,  what  literature  they  substitute 
for  the  Bible  and  good  books.  In  the  chapter  on  "  Free  Love" 
we  will  find  them  ' '  infused  with  that  virus' '  also.  What,  then, 
do  they  oppose  ? 


INFIDEL   TRAPS,  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.          197 

The  Liberal  leaders  publish  their  works  against  religion, 
Christianity,  divine  and  human  laws.  They  loudly  blaspheme 
the  holy  name  of  God,  and  seem  to  take  especial  delight  in 
printing  God,  Lord,  or  Jesus  Christ,  commencing  each  with 
small  letters.  There  is  such  a  strong  argument  in  this  !  They 
ridicule  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  and  scoff  at  His  teachings. 
They  take  away  hope  of  heaven  and  the  comforts  of  religion. 
The  Bible  they  ridicule,  and  attempt  to  rob  the  soul  of  the  peace 
of  God.  Sabbath  laws,  and  all  laws  affecting  the  morals  of  the 
community,  they  seek  to  abrogate,  while  unbridled  scope  is 
given  to  appetite  and  passion.  While  they  thus  tear  down  the 
pure  and  holy,  they  naturally  favor  the  impure  and  base.  "  Ye 
cannot  serve  God  and  mammon."  They  can  find  nothing  in 
religion  but  what  is  on  the  side  of  decency  and  morality,  while 
what  they  contend  for  leads  directly  to  sin  and  shame. 

They  destroy  the  strongest  safeguards  to  morality,  and  uproot 
principles  that  insure  peace  and  happiness.  They  destroy  that 
faith  which  brings  life  and  hope  to  the  fainting  soul.  License 
to  wrong- doing  takes  the  place  of  self-denial  for  the  right 
Their  crude  and  narrow  views  they  parade  above  the  wisdom 
and  learning  of  scholars.  They  put  their  leader — the  great 
American  blasphemer — before  God.  The  experiences  and 
teachings  of  good  men  of  all  ages  go  for  naught  They  are 
inconsistent,  arrogant,  narrow-minded,  and  bigoted  ;  fierce  and 
violent  against  all  who  differ  from  them.  Lying  and  deceit 
are  their  stronghold.  To  distort  facts  is  their  glory.  To  assault 
their  enemies  in  an  underhanded  and  base  manner,  and  take 
every  advantage  over  those  they  oppose,  is  their  peculiar  delight 

Ingersollism  comes  and  says  there  is  no  help  outside  of  man. 
In  a  recent  lecture  in  Brooklyn,  where  it  is  reported  the 
Academy  of  Music  was  crowded  with  the  elite  of  Brooklyn,  one 
of  the  papers  friendly  to  Ingersoll  reports  him  as  saying  : 

' '  I  rely  not  upon  churches,  not  upon  sacred  books,  not  upon 
outgrown  and  moss-covered  creeds.  I  rely  upon  human 
endeavor — not  upon  God  ;  I  rely  upon  the  human  heart — not 
upon  angels  ;  I  rely  upon  the  human  brain. ' '  In  this  lecture, 


198  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

if  scoffings,  sneers,  and  blasphemies  merit  such  a  term,  he 
attempted  to  disprove  miracles,  the  changing  of  Moses'  rod  into 
a  serpent,  by  such  learned  arguments  as  follows  :  "  He  declared 
that  a  God  who  would  destroy  poor  dumb  animals  with  showers 
of  hail  would  not  make  a  decent  fiend. ' '  Again  he  said,  in 
disposing  of  the  prophecies  of  old  in  the  Scriptures  :  "  Read 
the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  you  cannot  tell  when 
they  are  fulfilled,  and  you  don't  know  to  what  they  apply. 
You  don' t  know  whether  they  apply  to  the  defeat  of  Tilden, 
the  administration  of  Hayes,  or  the  final  success  of  civil  service 
reform. ' ' 

And  the  elite  laughed.  The  great  .learning  and  scholarly 
attainments  thus  presented  impressed  them  with  the  remark- 
able powers  of  the  speaker. 

Ingersoll's  blasphemies  and  ridicule  of  holy  things  are  only 
excelled  by  his  egotism,  when,  after  setting  God  aside,  declaring 
the  prophecies  of  God's  word  fables,  and  the  miracles  impossi- 
bilities, he  presumes  to  make  a  substitute  out  of  his  narrow  way 
of  thinking  and  reasoning.  As  though  God  could  not  be  God, 
if  there  were  any  attributes  to  His  character  inconsistent  with 
Ingersoll's  way  of  thinking,  or  not  covered  by  his  understand- 
ing. What  substitute  does  he  offer  in  place  of  the  sinner's 
friend  ?  What  helps  to  the  soul  ? 

And  these  are  the  new  exponents  of  "  liberty"  and  "  free- 
dom." Freedom,  to  them,  is  not  that  which  soars  aloft  in  the 
ethereal  regions  of  truth  and  basks  in  the  sunlight  of  God's  love 
— that  which  elevates  man  above  the  sordid  things  of  earth  and 
breaks  the  chain  of  sin  asunder,  causing  the  soul  to  rejoice  in 
that  freedom  wherewith  Christ  Jesus  makes  us  free. 

Liberty  to  them  is  not  the  liberty  of  the  patriot  that  rejoices 
in  the  freedom  from  crime,  and  the  terrors  of  the  criminal 
class  ;  but  rather,  freedom  to  them  means  a  right  to  ignore  the 
rights  of  others,  a  license  to  set  aside  laws,  and  to  give  free 
scope  to  passions  and  lust.  By  thus  shouting  on  all  occasions 
they  hope  to  deceive  the  public. 

What  do  such  persons  know  of  freedom  from  the  results  of 


INFIDEL   TRAPS,  LIBERAL  TRAPS,  ETC.          199 

wrong- doing  ?  or  of  liberty  to  do  good  and  encourage  morality 
or  cultivate  purity  ?  The  freedom  sought  by  our  forefathers  to 
worship  God  did  not  mean  to  serve  the  devil.  Freedom  to 
have  a  home  does  not  mean  or  imply  that  the  parent  may  not 
defend  that  home  against  the  Liberal  obscenity  peddler  who 
seeks  to  ruin  the  child.  Freedom  to  speak  or  print  does  not 
imply  the  right  to  say  or  print  that  which  shocks  decency,  cor- 
rupts the  morals  of  the  young,  or  destroys  all  faith  in  God. 
Freedom  of  the  press  does  not  make  it  lawful  for  a  villain  to 
secretly  send  by  mail,  unknown  to  parent  and  teacher,  that 
which  shall  debauch  the  child's  mind  and  lead  to  licentious 
living.  Neither  of  these  words  drags  mankind  downward,  sanc- 
tions wrong-doing,  or  links  man  to  the  lowest  elements  of  his 
nature,  until  the  human  sinks  below  the  level  of  the  brute 
creation. 

Many  children  are  early  instructed  in  God' s  word,  and  learn 
by  heart  many  precious  promises.  These  promises  the  Holy 
Spirit  brings  back  in  after  years  to  warn,  comfort,  and  help  to 
a  better  life.  Ingersollism  seeks  to  overthrow  this  saving 
influence  by  derision. 

"  Repent  and  believe,  and  ye  shall  be  saved,"  still  rings  in 
the  wanderer's  ears,  beckoning  him  back  to  a  new  life. 
"Whosoever  will,  let  him  take  of  the  waters  of  life  freely," 
invites  a  return  to  God,  and  gently  woos  the  sinner  away  from 
sin.  "  The  blood  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  cleanseth  from  all 
sin,"  proclaims  a  new  life  possible.  "  It  is  a  faithful  saying, 
and  worthy  of  all  acceptation,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners,"  that  He  came  "  to  seek  and  to  save 
that  which  is  lost. ' '  These  precious  assurances  awaken  a  new 
hope  and  almost  persuade  the  sin-tortured  soul  to  burst  asunder 
the  chains  which  bind  him,  and  to  go  forth  a  free  man  in  the 
Lord.  "  God  is  love."  "  For  God  so  loved  the  world,  that 
He  gave  His  only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  in 
Him,  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting  life."  "  For 
God  commendeth  His  love  toward  us,  in  that,  while  we  were 
yet  sinners,  Christ  died  for  us." 


200  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

These  blessed  signal-lights  beacon  the  sin-surfeited  soul  off 
from  the  quicksands  and  rocks  along  the  shores  of  eternal 
death,  and  show  the  sinner  the  way  to  return  to  safety  and  life, 
if  he  will  but  heed  them. 

Just  here — just  at  this  critical  point,  where  the  Holy  Spirit 
pleads  with  the  sin-surfeited  soul,  where  the  sweet  has  turned 
to  the  gall  of  bitterness,  where  the  gentle  monitor,  conscience, 
whispers  and  urges  the  sinner's  return,  where  a  new  life  is 
possible,  at  the  very  turning  point  where  the  road  to  life  and 
death  separate — Satan,  by  these  agencies,  sets  doubting  traps, 
defiant  traps,  sneering  traps,  faithless  traps,  prayerless  traps, 
blasphemous  traps,  fear-not-God  traps,  sure-doom  traps,  will- 
not-be-on-the-safe-side  traps  ;  and  over  these  he  stations  his 
favorite  heralds  to  allure  and  deceive,  by  scoffs  and  ridicule, 
by  sarcasm  and  lying,  foolish  youth  to  eternal  death. 

Infidel  and  Liberal  publications  proclaim  their  lies  against 
God,  while  the  great  American  blasphemer,  for  fifty  cents  per 
head  per  night,  prostitutes  his  genius  to  assist  in  the  most 
complete  and  perfect  ruin  of  the  minds  and  souls  of  our 
beloved  youth. 

' '  The  fool  hath  said  in  his  heart,  there  is  no  God.  Corrupt 
are  they,  and  have  done  abominable  iniquity." 

Ingersollism  may  be  illustrated  by  a  two-faced  man,  who, 
with  a  brush  dripping  with  pitch  in  one  hand  and  a  look  of 
hate  depicted  on  one  face,  is  blackening  and  blotting  out  the 
names  ot  God,  Jesus  Christ,  heaven,  eternity,  etc.;  while  by 
the  other,  with  a  beaming  countenance,  with  repeal  whitewash, 
he  is  attempting  to  whiten  obscenity  and  crime. 

This  doctrine  is  cruel  and  heartless.  Ingersollism  is  the 
superlative  of  cruelty.  It  comes  to  the  mother  who,  with 
breaking  heart,  bends  over  the  dying  form  of  her  beloved  babe, 
and  rudely  thrusts  her  aside,  piercing  her  bleeding  heart  afresh, 
with  the  sneering  taunt,  "  There  is  no  loving  Saviour,  who  said, 
'  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  Me,  and  forbid  them  not. ' ' ' 

It  peers  with  laugh  and  sneer  into  the  drunkard's  home,  and 
says  to  the  faithful  wife,  buoyed  up  by  faith  in  prayer, 


INFIDEL   TRAPS,  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.          2OI 

"  Your  husband's  a  drunkard,  and  you're  a  fanatic  for  pray- 
ing  for  him.  Help  must  come  from  man  alone.  There's  no 
hope  of  divine  help.  The  experience  of  tens  of  thousands  of 
others  who  have  saved  their  friends  by  faith  in  and  prayer  to 
God  is  all  a  delusion.  There's  no  God  for  you  to  take  com- 
fort in,  or  from  whom  succor  can  come. ' ' 

To  the  wife,  hanging  over  the  lifeless  form  of  her  husband, 
and  who  can  see  no  ray  of  light  for  the  future  on  earth,  but 
all  so  black  and  gloomy  without  her  beloved  ;  when  the 
thought  of  the  glad  reunion  comes  to  dispel  this  darkness  and 
gloom,  Ingersollism  stalks  forcibly  in  and  proclaims,  in  manner 
and  form  that  beget  from  his  hearers  ' '  laughter, "  "  roars  of 
laughter, ' '  and  ' '  applause' '  :  "  Death  is  the  end.  There  is 
nothing  beyond.  You  have  each  of  you  lived  earnest,  faithful 
lives,  in  hope  of  an  eternity  in  heaven  together,  but  you  are 
deluded  ;  you  are  fanatics  for  being  on  the  safe  side,  for  there 
is  no  heaven." 

To  the  dying  saint  this  scoffer  cries,  "  You're  a  fanatic, 
you're  deluded  ;"  and  in  effect  says,  "  The  peace  which  passeth 
all  understanding,  which  I  know  nothing  of,  but  which  fortifies 
your  soul,  so  that  death  is  robbed  of  its  terrors  ;  which  enables 
you  to  calmly  contemplate  the  spirit's  flight  from  this  tenement 
of  clay,  is  all  a  delusion  !  You're  a  fanatic.  The  testimony 
of  dying  saints  in  all  ages,  that  there  is  a  salvation  and  peace  in 
Christ  Jesus,  is  all  a  lie ;  they  too  were  deluded  or  insane.  I 
never  saw  them,  nor  can  I  understand  their  thoughts,  feelings, 
and  experiences  ;  therefore,  I  say,  they  did  not  know  how  they 
felt." 

Ingersollism  approaches  the  martyr  tied  to  a  stake,  and 
while  faith  in  and  prayer  to  God  raise  this  trusting  soul  high 
above  the  wrath  of  man  and  the  fiery  elements,  and  as  he 
turns  his  eyes  heavenward  with  a  look  of  triumph,  rejoicing 
that  he  has  been  counted  worthy  to  surfer  for  Him  who  suffered 
on  the  cross,  these  blaspheming  creatures  get  as  near  the 
flames  as  their  cowardly  natures  will  permit,  and  with  scoffings, 
sneers,  and  ridicule  seek  to  disprove  all  that  the  martyr's  death 


202  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

establishes  as  true,  and  which  the  martyr  seals  with  his  blood, 
by  shouting,  "  It's  all  a  delusion  ;  you're  a  fanatic." 

A  beloved  brother,  just  as  his  regiment  was  approaching 
what  afterward  proved  to  be  the  bloody  battle-field  of  Gettys- 
burg, was  in  charge  of  the  commissary  train  of  his  brigade. 
He  saw  the  approaching  danger  to  which  his  comrades  in  his 
regiment  were  to  be  exposed.  He  went  to  the  commanding 
general  and  asked  to  be  relieved  from  his  position  of  compara- 
tive safety  and  sent  back  to  his  regiment,  that  he  might  share 
the  dangers  and  hardships  with  them.  He  was  accordingly 
relieved.  During  that  terrible  battle  he  fell  mortally  wounded. 
He  lay  for  weeks  in  the  army  hospital,  where  he  died  without 
woman's  tender  care,  and  deprived  of  proper  nourishment 
He  wasted  away  from  a  strong,  healthy  man  of  nearly  200 
pounds  to  less  than  100  before  his  death.  Dying  here,  with 
all  the  gloomy  surroundings,  shorn  of  every  luxury,  with  but 
one  faithful  soldier  friend  near,  just  before  he  breathed  his  last 
he  looked  up  into  his  comrade's  face  and  said,  with  a  serene 
smile, 

"  '  Jesus  can  make  a  dying  bed 

Feel  soft  as  downy  pillows  are,' " 

and  then  fell  asleep  in  Jesus.  Can  Ingersollism  produce  such 
a  triumph  ?  Such  a  death  ?  No.  But  Ingersoll  and  his  hear- 
ers would  gather  around  this  brave  Christian  soldier  s  humble  cot, 
and  with  "  laughter,"  "  loud  laughter,"  "  shouts  of  laughter," 
and  ' '  applause, ' '  would  sneer  and  ridicule  such  a  triumph  over 
death,  and  shout,  "  You  are  deluded  ;  you're  a  fanatic." 

These  Liberal  publications  and  blasphemous  rantings  are  the 
mortar  that  fills  up  the  space  between  the  stones  of  vice  and 
crime,  laid  up  about  our  youth  by  master  hands — the  pub- 
lishers of  criminal  reading.  The  wall  thus  completed  seems 
almost  insurmountable.  Ruin  hems  in  our  youth.  The  way 
of  escape  is  cut  off. 

Just  at  this  critical  point — here,  where  fear,  remorse,  and 
loathing  of  the  sinful  meet  ;  here,  where  vice  and  crime  have 


INFIDEL   TRAPS.  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.          203 

raised  mighty  barriers  about  the  soul  ;  where  no  ray  of  light  or 
hope  can  come,  except  through  the  crevices  of  this  inclosure — 
Infidelity  and  Liberalism  stand  guard,  and  as  sweet-faced  Hope 
appears,  with  the  Saviour's  message,  "Come  unto  me  all  ye 
that  are  weary  and  heavy  laden,  and  I  will  give  you  rest,"  she 
is  turned  back  with  a  rude  slap  in  the  face,  and  the  horrible 
roar,  "  There  is  no  God  !" 

Again,  swift- winged  memory  flies  back  to  the  mother's  knees 
in  the  nursery,  gathering  up  the  golden  promises  from  God's 
word  there  taught  in  childhood,  and  returning  lets  them  down 
over  the  casement  of  sin,  a  sure  means  of  escape.  The  poor, 
tortured  soul,  looking  up,  sees  a  ray  of  hope,  a  chance  of 
deliverance,  and  fain  would  avail  himself  of  it. 

Then  comes  the  scoffing,  fifty  cents-per-head  blasphemer, 
and  with  supreme  fiendishness  shouts,  "  Don't  lay  hold  of  the 
promises  of  God.  There's  no  hope  because  you  don't  believe 
as  I  do." 

The  poor  soul  has  tried  license  to  do  wrong  and  freedom  to 
serve  Satan,  and  realizing  the  results  cries  out,  "  Who  shall 
deliver  me  from  the  body  of  this  death  ?" 

The  scoffing  lecturer  replies,  "  You  cannot  be  delivered 
unless  you  do  it  yourself. " 

But  the  victim,  conscious  of  the  power  of  sinful  habit,  and 
suffering  from  the  sins  of  youth,  replies,  "  In  my  youth  my 
mind  was  poisoned  by  vile  publications,  and  I  was  innocently 
led  into  practices  which  have  cursed  my  very  existence  and 
weakened  my  will,  so  that  '  the  things  I  would  not  do,  I 
do.'" 

The  scoffer,  to  be  consistent  with  his  public  discourses, 
replies,  "  It  matters  not  :  there  is  no  hope  for  such  as  you 
outside  of  the  '  human  brain. '  ' 

The  Holy  Spirit  pleads  the  promises,  and  the  dying  soul  is 
encouraged  by  them  to  renewed  efforts,  and  replies,  ' '  The 
Saviour  said,  '  My  grace  is  sufficient. '  ' 

This  hope  is  sought  to  be  banished  by  the  lecturer  by  such 
mighty  arguments  as  are  born  of  egotism  :  "  I  tell  you,  it' s  no 


204  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

true,  I  never  saw  it,  and  it's  opposed  to  my  way  of  think- 
ing." 

But  eternal  salvation  depends  upon  the  truth  of  these  prom- 
ises to  the  sin-stricken  soul,  and  so  the  poor  victim  clings  to 
the  only  hope,  and  urges,  as  he  grows  weaker  and  weaker, 
"Is  there  not  some  chance  of  your  being  mistaken?  The 
testimony  of  saints  and  martyrs  all  goes  to  prove  the  truth  of 
God's  word." 

To  this  the  valiant  foe  replies,."  They  are  all  fanatics.  I 
tell  you  I  never  saw  it,  and  therefore  it  is  not  true." 

Then  the  poor  victim  bethinks  himself  that  there  may  be  at 
least  some  few  things  in  the  world  that  this  scoffer  has  not  seen, 
and  ventures  to  suggest,  "  But  you  never  saw  the  wind  !" 

But  the  man  of  genius  is  apt  and  ready,  and  promptly 
replies,  "  Zounds  !  man,  you're  a  fanatic.  I  never  pretended 
to  know  about  such  matters  as  the  wind.  I  am  only  wise  as 
to  the  '  mysteries  of  God. '  I  tell  you,  sin-stricken  soul,  you'  ve 
got  to  die  as  you  are,  unless  you  live  by  your  own  '  brain. '  ' 

And  thus  the  Liberal  lecturer  and  publisher,  by  egotism  that 
is  only  excelled  by  their  blasphemy,  help  to  complete  the  work 
of  ruin.  They  ensnare  the  thoughtless  and  license  the  vicious. 
They  draw  up  the  only  rope  of  safety,  close  up  the  aperture 
above  the  soul  in  the  casement  of  sin,  shutting  out  the  only  ray 
of  light  which  comes  from  above,  leaving  the  soul  to  die  with- 
out help  or  hope.  And  this  is  to  supplant  the  religion  of  Jesus 
Christ,  and  claimed  by  them  to  possess  superior  advantages. 

What  is  the  effect  of  this  teaching  ? 

It  makes  living  in  sin  easier,  the  ruin  of  our  youth  surer,  and 
the  agony  of  death  more  terrible.  It  bids  the  sensual  run  riot. 
When  unhallowed  living  brings  sickness  and  disease,  it  provides 
no  help.  When  indulgence  has  formed  baneful  habits,  and 
these  have  fettered  the  victim,  there  is  no  sure  way  of  escape 
from  the  accursed  bondage.  It  tells  the  drunkard  and  sensu- 
alist, smarting  under  the  loathsome  condition  that  foul  living 
has  brought  upon  them,  that  there  is  no  cure.  It  looks  at  the 
putrefying  sores  of  criminal  life,  and,  like  those  of  old,  passes 


INFIDEL  TRAPS,  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.          205 

by  on  the  other  side  shouting,  "  Liberty  !"  and  "  Freedom  !" 
"  Free  lust,  free  license  to  wrong-doing  !" 

Oh,  Infidelity  and  Liberalism,  ye  great  defenders  of  ob- 
scenity and  crime  !  Ye  are  mighty  in  your  own  conceit,  in 
attempting  to  defame  the  mighty  God.  Highly  favored  of  hell 
are  ye,  for  many  souls  led  into  sin  in  the  thoughtless  days  of 
youth,  you  have  sealed  unto  your  master  the  devil,  by  your 
scoffings  and  blasphemies.  The  foul  book  and  paper  have 
fired  the  brain  of  many  a  child,  and  led  him  into  sinful  prac- 
tices, and  these  noisome  habits  have  dragged  him  to  the 
verge  of  despair,  and  if  you  had  not  destroyed  faith  and  hope 
in  God  a  new  life  would  have  been  possible.  But  you  have 
sent  many  souls  to  sure  perdition  by  taking  away  the  sinner's 
only  hope.  For  fifty  cents  per  head  a  night,  ' '  What  must  I 
do  to  be  saved?"  has  been  discussed  amid  "  laughter,"  "  loud 
laughter, "  "  roars  of  laughter, ' '  and  ' '  applause, ' '  and  crim- 
inal living  has  been  encouraged. 

To  let  down  a  pair  of  bars  in  a  field  is  to  encourage  the  flock 
of  sheep  to  leave  their  pasture  and  roam  abroad.  So,  to  break 
down  religion,  license  wrong- doing,  blaspheme  God's  name, 
and  make  light  of  sacred  things,  is  to  induce  thoughtless  ones 
to  give  freest  scope  to  those  vices  which  destroy  the  soul  and 
degrade  society. 

Infidelity  never  saved  a  soul  or  smoothed  a  dying  pillow. 
The  mother  trembles  at  the  thought  of  her  child  being  infused 
with  this  worse  than  the  poison  of  asps.  She  watches  its  asso- 
ciates, and  is  ever  on  the  alert  that  her  offspring  goes  not  in 
the  way  of  the  scornful. 

Blessed  be  such  mothers  !  But  her  children,  in  many  cases, 
are  not  safe  unless  the  door  of  the  home  is  guarded  against 
even  the  respectable  morning  paper,  that  will  come  bearing 
this  worse  than  contagious  disease  into  the  very  home  circle. 
The  child  would  not  be  permitted  to  go  to  hear  him  whose  un- 
derstanding is  so  darkened  that  he  will  not  see  the  truth,  while 
for  two  hours  he  rails  against  God  and  His  word.  Unless  the 
parent  shall  stand  the  next  morning,  tongs  in  hand,  ready  to 


2o6  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

receive  this  moral  death-trap,  it  will  be  sent  into  the  home, 
baited  with  the  glittering  speech  of  a  man  highly  favored  with 
genius,  to  ensnare  and  fatally  wound  the  beloved  child. 

Lose  not  heart,  Christian  parent.  God  reigns,  notwithstand- 
ing the  infidel's  lie,  the  Liberal's  sneer,  and  the  orator's  ribald 
laugh.  His  promises  are  sure.  His  message,  "  Watch  and 
pray, ' '  is  more  than  ever  to  be  heeded. 

"  Him  that  cometh  unto  Me,  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  off." 

Liberalism  never  penned  a  more  beautiful  sentence.  Shall 
their  sneers  or  the  scoffings  of  corrupt  men  deprive  any  one  of 
the  sweet  nectar  it  contains  for  the  soul  ? 

There  seems  to  be  a  popular  impression  that  we  must  yield 
to  this  new  doctrine  of  ridicule  and  blasphemy,  and  whatever 
else  is  done  the  daily  press  is  expected  to  print  whatever  falls 
from  the  scoffer's  lips.  Is  it  not  paying  too  high  a  tribute  to 
the  vicious  and  unprincipled  when,  for  the  sake  of  toadying  to 
infidelity,  we  fill  the  columns  of  respectable  papers  with  such 
lectures  as  fall  from  Ingersoll's  lips,  infusing  thus  this  poison 
into  thousands  of  minds  which  otherwise  would  be  free  from 
this  curse  ?  Is  it  not  educating  the  public  mind  to  disregard 
holy  and  sacred  things,  and  placing  a  light  estimate  upon  the 
morals  of  the  community  ?  Why  should  a  page  of  a  news- 
paper be  given  to  this  false  and  vicious  teaching,  while  but  a 
part  of  a  column  will  be  devoted  in  a  morning  paper  to  a  ser- 
mon, no  matter  how  excellent  ?  Does  it  not  argue  that  the 
public  taste  demands  the  former  ?  and  that  the  loose  and 
immoral  has  greater  sway  than  the  pure  and  good  ? 

The  tender  minds  of  youth  ought  not  to  be  cursed  with  these 
teachings.  The  sacrifice  of  the  character  of  our  youth  is  too 
great  a  price  to  pay  for  this  license.  Let  Ingersoll  speak  and 
print  his  own  utterances  so  long  as  he  does  not  violate  any 
law  ;  but  let  the  decent  people  not  contribute  to  his  support, 
nor  by  their  presence  sanction  his  doctrines.  Let  not  respect- 
able editors  stand  under  the  edge  of  the  platform,  with  hat  in 
hand  to  catch  such  drippings.  If  they  do,  let  them  be  patriotic 
enough  not  to  debauch  the  public  conscience  with  them.  If 


INFIDEL    TRAPS,  LIBERAL   TRAPS,  ETC.          207 

respec^ble  papers  will  not  make  these  false  and  pernicious 
teachings  their  stock  in  trade,  comparatively  very  little  harm 
would  be  done.  The  newspaper  goes  into  places  where  Inger- 
soll  would  not  go  to  speak,  because  it  would  not  pay  ;  and  thus 
is  carried  into  communities,  otherwise  comparatively  safe,  this 
pestilence,  which  drags  down  but  never  builds  up. 

M.  Renan  is  reported  to  have  said,  ' '  We  are  living  on  the 
perfume  of  an  empty  vase.  Our  children  will  have  to  live  on 
the  shadow  of  a  shadow.  Their  children,  I  fear,  will  have  to 
live  on  something  less."  But  this  is  not  so,  Christianity  being 
true.  The  religion  of  Christ  enlarges  every  comfort,  increases 
our  pleasures,  and  adds  new  charms  to  every  condition  of  life. 
It  intensifies  all  our  joys.  It  beautifies  every  character.  The 
closer  a  person  follows  Jesus  Christ,  the  more  value  is  he  in  the 
world,  and  the  more  does  he  command  admiration. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

MORE    LIBERAL    TRAPS. 

The  Question  of  the  Unconstitutionality  of  the  Law  Answered. 

THE  friends  of  obscenity  question  the  constitutionality  of 
the  laws  prohibiting  the  sending  of  obscene  matter  by  mail. 

I  propose  to  show  their  attitude  and  answer  their  objections. 

For  ten  years  a  systematic  effort  has  been  made  to  suppress 
obscene  publications  and  articles  of  indecent  and  immoral  use, 
by  due  process  of  law.  Prior  to  1873  there  were  no  laws  in 
this  State  or  in  the  United  States  that  were  adequate  to  meet 
this  monstrous  evil.  The  account-books  seized  in  the  hands 
of  the  publishers  of  obscene  books  reveal  the  fact  that  as  far 
back  as  1842  this  accursed  traffic  existed  in  this  country.  In 
1873  there  were  165  different  books,  besides  thousands  of  pict- 
ures, being  published.  As  proof  of  this,  we  present  the  fact 
that  the  agents  of  the  New  York  Society  for  the  Suppression  of 
Vice  have  seized  stereotype  plates  for  printing  163  different 
books,  and  the  negatives  for  printing  and  manufacturing  1700 
photographs,  besides  seizing  over  500  steel  and  copper  plates 
for  engraved  pictures. 

When  the  effort  to  suppress  this  tide  of  corruption,  which 
was  attacking  the  very  fountain  of  moral  purity  in  the  com- 
munity, was  first  started,  there  was  scarcely  public  sentiment 
enough  to  sustain  a  prosecution  against  the  vilest  publications. 
As  the  facts,  however,  became  known  to  the  public,  there  was 
a  vehement  demand  on  the  part  of  good  men  that  rigid  laws 
be  enacted,  and  strictly  enforced.  This  led  to  the  enactment 
by  Congress  of  what  the  Liberals  choose  to  call  ' '  the  Comstock 
law,"  in  1873.  This  statute  was  amended  by  Congress  in 
1876,  and  now  reads  as  follows  : 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  209 

"  Every  obscene,  lewd,  or  lascivious  book,  pamphlet,  pict- 
ure, paper,  writing,  print,  or  other  publication  of  an  indecent 
character,  and  every  article  or  thing  designed  or  intended  for 
the  prevention  of  conception  or  procuring  of  abortion,  and 
every  article  or  thing  intended  or  adapted  for  any  indecent  or 
immoral  use,  and  every  written  or  printed  card,  circular,  book, 
pamphlet,  advertisement,  or  notice  of  any  kind  giving  informa- 
tion, directly  or  indirectly,  where,  or  how,  or  of  whom,  or  by 
what  means,  any  of  the  hereinbefore  mentioned  matters,  articles, 
or  things  may  be  obtained  or  made,  and  every  letter  upon  the 
envelope  of  which,  or  postal  card  upon  which,  indecent,  lewd, 
obscene,  or  lascivious  delineations,  epithets,  terms,  or  language 
may  be  written  or  printed,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  non-mail- 
able  matter,  and  shall  not  be  conveyed  in  the  mails,  nor 
delivered  from  any  post-office,  nor  by  any  letter-carrier ;  .  .  . 
and  any  person  who  shall  knowingly  deposit,  or  cause  to  be 
deposited,  for  mailing  and  delivery,  anything  declared  by  this  sec- 
tion to  be  non-maildble  matter  ..." 

Then  follows  a  penalty  for  violation  of  the  statute. 

The  above  statute  is  the  law  that  is  so  vigorously  attacked 
by  the  repeal  element  of  the  National  Liberal  League. 

To  accomplish  this  repeal,  in  addition  to  the  conspiracy 
referred  to  in  a  former  chapter,  speeches,  arguments,  and  let- 
ters have  been  made  and  written  against  the  present  statute  by 
leading  Liberals,  especially  by  such  men  as  R.  G.  Ingersoll, 
Courtlandt  Palmer,  Parker  Pillsbury,  James  Parton,  Elizur 
Wright,  and  others.  Some  of  their  arguments  have  appeared 
in  religious  papers,  and  respectable  periodicals  and  reviews. 
These  demand  attention.  The  persistency  of  these  men  must 
be  regarded  as  an  attempt  to  undermine  the  enforcement  of 
these  laws. 

The  attacks  made  upon  the  methods  employed  to  enforce 
these  laws  are  often  born  of  ignorance  ;  while  many  of  the 
arguments  made  against  "  methods  used  in  enforcing  these 
laws"  are  without  foundation  in  fact.  No  attack  upon  these 
laws  is  fair  or  honest  that  is  made  without  at  least  some  effort 


2io  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

to  ascertain  what  the  facts  really  are.  To  imagine  evils,  and 
then  argue  as  though  these  were  facts,  is  unprincipled  and  dis- 
honest. No  good  cause  requires  such  means  for  its  defence  or 
support,  and  when  men  of  intelligence  resort  to  such  devices 
to  assail  and  destroy  these  laws,  as  these  opponents  surely  have, 
then  there  is  a  sinister  motive  behind  the  base  attack,  which 
argues  nothing  for  lofty  principle  or  integrity  of  purpose. 

Not  one  of  my  opponents  has  ever  been  near  me,  or  made  a 
single  inquiry  at  my  office  for  facts.  Without  at  least  an  attempt 
to  get  at  the  facts,  they  are  not  qualified  to  speak,  and  what 
they  say  should  be  viewed  with  suspicion  and  weighed  with 
great  care  by  thinking  men.  Thus  is  defined  the  true  position 
of  the  opponents  to  the  above  law. 

The  attacks  of  the  Liberals  cannot  be  justified  upon  any 
ground  of  ethics,  so  long  as  they  do  not  avail  themselves  of 
the  opportunities  ever  open  to  them  to  investigate  and  see 
whether  or  no  the  charges  which  they  choose  to  make  are  true. 
This  cause  has  suffered  from  unscrupulous  attacks  thus  made. 

The  modern  Liberals  (and  I  refer  strictly  to  the  repeal  Lib- 
eral) apply  the  same  tactics  in  arguing  against  and  opposing 
this  law  that  they  use  against  religion  and  the  Bible.  It  has 
been  justly  charged  against  them  that  in  discussing  the  Bible 
they  take  one  text,  and  ignore  the  context ;  so  in  arguing  as  to 
the  unconstitutionality  of  these  laws,  they  take  one  section  of 
the  Constitution,  utterly  ignoring  the  ' '  police  power' '  inherent 
in  every  government,  and  other  sections  concerning  the  rights 
of  Congress  to  legislate  for  the  best  interests  of  the  nation. 

Mr.  Courtlandt  Palmer  seems  to  have  made  the  last  argu- 
ment before  the  public  on  behalf  of  his  fellow- Liberals  against 
this  law.  His  argument  seems  to  boil  down  and  embrace  all 
previous  arguments,  so  that  if  we  answer  him  we  answer  all. 

One  bit  of  testimony  I  thank  him  for.  He  confirms  what  I 
have  always  said,  that  the  only  sect  or  class  who  have  arrayed 
themselves  on  the  side  of  obscene  literature  and  the  repeal  of 
laws  made  for  its  suppression  are  the  so-called  Liberals  and 
infidels,  as  represented  by  the  repeal  element  in  the  Liberal 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  211 

League.  Mr.  Palmer  frankly  admits  that  "  The  Christians  of 
the  country  have,  as  a  rule,  sustained  these  laws,  while  the 
Liberals  of  the  land  have,  as  a  body,  been  opposed  to  them." 
Just  here  I  must  except  to  his  sweeping  charge  against 
"  Liberals  as  a  body."  This  is  not  true,  and  casts  a  stigma 
upon  many  honorable  gentlemen  who  formerly  were  connected 
with  this  league,  but  who  withdrew  on  this  very  question,  and 
now  utterly  abhor  the  attempts  made  to  repeal  this  righteous 
enactment.  His  remark  is  true  if  addressed  to  the  repeal  ele- 
ment of  the  National  Liberal  League. 

I  purpose  to  discuss  the  points  which  he  lays  before  the 
public,  as  they  are  supposed  to  contain  the  very  essence  of  all 
previous  arguments  made  on  behalf  of  the  repeal  of  the  above 
statute  ;  and  that  I  do  Mr.  Palmer  no  injustice,  I  present  his 
argument  in  full,  as  printed  in  the  New  York  Observer  of  April 
26th,  1883  : 

"  A   Liberal  on  Postal  Laws   to  prevent  the    Transmission  of 

Indecent  Literature  in  the  Mails. 

"  The  Christians  of  the  country  have,  as  a  rule,  sustained 
these  laws,  while  the  Liberals  of  the  land  have,  as  a  body,  been 
opposed  to  them.  Hence  the  religious  conservatives  have,  per- 
haps naturally  enough,  raised  the  cry,  '  See  how  Infidelity  loves 
dirt !  ' 

"  But  these  same  religious  conservatives  have,  I  think,  rea- 
soned hastily  and  illogical ly.  It  does  not  follow  because 
Liberals  resist  one  means  of  preventing  vice  that  they  resist  all 
means  of  preventing  vice. 

"  Sometimes  a  mistaken  method  of  preventing  vice  entails 
worse  evils  than  the  vice  it  would  prevent.  The  Liberals  oppose 
the  methods  of  these  postal  laws  because  they  regard  them  as 
an  example  of  saving  at  the  spigot  and  losing  at  the  bung. 
They  deem  them  a  case  of  paying  too  dear  for  the  whistle. 
They  regard  them  as  an  instance  of  expending  a  dollar  to  save 
a  dime.  The  question  thus  straightway  narrows  itself  to  one 
issue,  viz.,  that  of  method.  It  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that 


212  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

obscenity  should  be  checked,  and,  if  possible,  eradicated. 
The  only  point  is,  haw.  We  regard  these  laws  to  be  uncon- 
stitutional, useless,  unnecessary,  impolitic,  and  immoral. 

"  i.   We  believe  them  to  be  unconstitutional. 

"  A  mere  obiter  dictum  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States  delivered  in  another,  and  we  think  irrelative,  case  con- 
cerning lotteries  seems  to  have  sustained  their  constitutionality, 
but  we  feel  confident  that  this  semi-decision  will  in  time  be 
reversed,  and  for  the  weighty  reason  that  the  United  States 
Constitution  simply  empowers  Congress  '  to  establish  post- 
offices  and  post-roads, '  and  no  more.  How  can  these  words, 
we  ask,  be  so  construed  as  to  authorize  our  representatives  to 
sit  in  judgment  on  the  moral  quality  of  the  parcels  intrusted  to 
the  mails  ?  The  post-office,  as  we  conceive  it,  is  a  mechanical 
and  not  an  ethical  institution.  The  efficiency  and  not  the 
morality  of  the  mails  is,  in  our  view,  the  only  thing  for  the 
government  to  consider.  I  cite  some  of  the  highest  American 
authorities  in  support  of  this  important  point  Judge  Story 
says  in  his  work  on  the  Constitution  that  '  Congress  cannot  use 
this  power  (viz.,  "  to  establish  post-offices  and  post- roads")  for 
any  other  ulterior  purpose, '  which  means,  if  it  means  anything, 
that  while  the  government  may  for  postal  reasons  or  for  the 
convenience  or  necessity  of  the  service,  exclude  such  articles  as 
liquor  or  dynamite,  it  cannot  sit  in  judgment  on  the  intellectual 
or  moral  quality  of  the  communications  intrusted  to  it 

"  [The  writer  here  cites  Henry  Clay  on  incendiary  docu- 
ments, John  Davis  and  Daniel  Webster  to  the  same  effect 
We  omit  them  for  want  of  room.  — Eds.  ] 

"  2.  These  laws  are  useless.  The  forbidden  articles  can  be 
sent  everywhere  by  express,  by  railroad,  by  mercantile  agencies, 
and  even  by  the  mails  themselves  when  sent  as  first-class  matter 
in  sealed  envelopes. 

' '  3.  These  laws  are  unnecessary.  The  State  and  municipal 
laws,  as  Henry  Clay  suggested,  are  sufficient  for  the  detection 
and  punishment  of  all  real  offenders  against  decency  and  good 
morals.  Postal  laws  cannot  prevent  the  circulation  of  ob- 


MORE   LIBERAL    TRAPS.  213 

scenity,  for  it  has  a  hundred  means  beyond  them.  Only  the 
State  laws,  that  strike  at  its  root  and  reach  its  printing,  manu- 
facture, and  transmission  in  every  other  form,  can  be  efficient. 
For  one  hundred  years  we  have  done  without  the  dangerous 
United  States  law.  Why  resort  to  it  now,  fraught  as  it  is  with 
so  much  danger  to  constitutional  liberty  ? 

"4.  These  laws  are  unrepublican,  and  for  two  reasons  :  First, 
because  they  tend  to  confine  the  administration  of  justice  to 
certain  classes.  The  district  attorneys  of  the  several  counties 
are  and  can  be  the  only  democratic  prosecutors  of  the  cases 
under  consideration,  but  the  Society  for  the  Suppression  of 
Vice,  and  all  similar  institutions,  are  endeavors  to  supplement 
and  supplant  the  regular  process  of  law  by  confiding  the 
machinery  of  justice  to  special  yet  irresponsible  associations, 
upon  whom  is  conferred  the  unrepublican  power  not  only  of 
prosecution  but  of  arrest.  If  the  matter  were  only  carried  far 
enough,  we  should  then  have  societies  to  prevent  libel,  societies 
to  prevent  gaming,  societies  to  prevent  assault,  and  so  on  till 
all  the  functions  of  republican  administration  of  law  were 
farmed  out  to  these  organizations,  amounting  in  the  end  to  the 
confession  that  government  of,  for,  and  by  the  people  must 
give  way  to  a  mongrel  supervision  by  these  amateur  societies. 

' '  Second,  these  laws  are  unrepublican  because  in  total  antag- 
onism to  one  of  the  chief  corner-stones  of  American  liberty, 
they  tend  toward  the  union  of  Church  and  State.  The  Society 
for  the  Suppression  of  Vice  is  undeniably  an  association  com- 
posed of  and  representing  the  Christian  Church,  and  we  have 
the  lamentable  spectacle  of  Mr.  Comstock  as  agent  at  once  of 
it  and  also  special  agent  of  the  United  States  Post-Office,  being 
thus  encouraged,  under  the  cloak  and  with  the  sanction  of 
Christianity,  to  invade  the  mails.  We  cannot  have  a  free 
country  where  freedom  of  thought  is  denied,  and  as  a  condition 
to  freedom  of  thought,  not  only  freedom  of  speech  and  of  the 
press,  but  also  freedom  of  the  mails  is  essential,  and  free  mails 
must  be  free  of  all  censorship,  whether  orthodox  or  heterodox. 
Some  one  condensed  the  whole  subject  in  the  curt  inquiry, 


214  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG, 

'  Free  mails  or  moral  mails,  which  ? '  If  moral  mails,  whose 
morals?  This  year  Mr.  Comstock's  ;  at  the  next  Congress, 
Cardinal  McCloskey's,  if  a  Catholic  majority  controls  ;  and  after 
that,  perhaps,  the  morals  of  Ah  Sin,  if  within  a  few  decades  the 
yellow  flood  from  the  Celestial  Empire  should  chance  to  over- 
whelm us.  And  suppose,  as  is  by  no  means  improbable,  that 
at  no  distant  day  the  Liberals  should  become  supreme,  would 
the  Christians  then  be  quite  willing  to  abide  by  the  precedent 
of  their  own  postal  laws  ?  Would  they  relish  to  have  meted 
unto  them  the  measure  that  they  mete  ?  Would  they  subject 
even  their  own  sacred  literature  to  the  test  of  their  own  making  ? 
No  ;  let  all  inquisitive  sectarian  censorship  over  our  mails  be 
removed.  Let  us  each  do  as  we  would  be  done  by.  Equal 
rights  for  all,  unequal  privileges  for  none.  Let  Church  and 
State  be  kept  forever  separate.  No  spiritual  supervision  in  the 
Post- Office.  That  is  not  the  place  for  it 

"  5.  Because  these  laws  are  profoundly  immoral.  Seeking 
to  preserve  morality,  they  undermine  it.  And  for  two  reasons. 
First,  because  they  involve  immoral  means  and  methods  for 
their  enforcement.  I  mean  a  system  of  espionage  and  decoy 
— which  are  only  other  names  for  lying,  but  which  is  of  their 
very  essence.  Bad  enough  is  it  for  the  State  to  be  obliged  to 
resort  to  the  club  of  the  policeman  and  the  arts  and  lies  of  the 
detective,  but  for  a  Christian  society  to  undertake  such  tasks 
seems  simply  monstrous.  It  is  a  practical  indorsement  of  the 
adage,  '  Let  us  do  evil  that  good  may  come. ' 

' '  But  second  :  In  a  larger  sense  morality  must  stifle  unless 
it  be  allowed  to  breathe  the  air  of  liberty.  The  office  of  the 
Church  is  to  advise,  to  exhort,  to  consecrate.  Its  appeal  is,  or 
should  be,  to  the  conscience,  and  to  it  alone.  Morality  in  its 
very  nature  is  voluntary.  '  Out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of 
life. '  For  the  sake  of  order  the  State  not  only  may,  but  must, 
enforce  observances,  but  the  appeal  of  religion  in  behalf  of 
morality  can  only  be  to  the  heart  and  mind.  It  gains  nothing 
unless  it  gains  it  by  free  consent  of  its  converts.  Hence  the 
Church,  secure  in  its  own  sense  of  rectitude,  should,  to  be 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  215 

consistent,   adopt  Milton's  suggestion  that  error  be  left  to  go 
free  if  truth  be  left  free  to  combat  it. 

'  Forever  in  thine  eyes,  O  Liberty, 
Shines  that  high  light  whereby  the  world  is  saved  ; 
And  though  thou  slay  us  we  will  trust  in  thee.' 

"  In  conclusion,  as  far  as  laws  for  the  prevention  of  obscenity 
are  serviceable  at  all,  they  seem  to  us  to  consist  in  State,  and 
not  United  States  laws,  though  it  is  interesting  to  observe  how 
statutes  punishing  crimes  against  sentiment  and  opinion — as 
opposed  to  crimes  against  person  and  property — rapidly  sink 
into  dead  letters.  Witness  those  against  sacrilege  and  blas- 
phemy, and  notably  the  late  attempt  to  revive  the  Sunday  laws. 
Will  not  provisions  against  indecency  similarly  die  under  a 
more  and  more  enlightened  public  opinion  because  they  will 
be  needless  ?  And  if  the  Post-Office  is  feared  for  the  immature, 
this  can  be  met,  as  an  extreme  resort,  by  parents  and  school- 
masters arranging  to  receive  the  children's  mail,  and  by  with- 
holding the  suspicious  communications. 

"  But,  above  all,  the  real  remedy  seems  to  the  writer  to  con- 
sist in  a  higher  education  and  deeper  moral  enthusiasm.  By 
physiological  instruction,  by  healthy  occupation,  by  the  culti- 
vation of  refined  tastes  at  home  and  at  school,  the  young  will 
engender  ideas  utterly  antagonistic  to  indecency. 

'  The  day,  I  venture  to  prophesy,  is  not  far  distant  when 
one  of  the  greatest  glories  of  Liberalism  will  prove  "to  be  the 
brave  and  trying  stand  it  has  so  sturdily  taken  regarding  this 
issue. ' ' 

Mr.  Palmer  first  says,  "  We  believe  them"  (the  above  laws) 
"  to  be  unconstitutional." 

I  reply  :  Article  VIII.  of  the  Constitution,  Section  7,  says  that 
Congress  shall  have  power  to  establish  post-offices  and  post- 
roads  ;  while  Section  1 2  adds  to  this,  and  all  similar  special 
grants,  ' '  the  incidental  powers  necessary  and  proper  to  execute 
them." 


216  TRAPS  FOR   THE    YOUNG. 

Before  discussing  this  subject  further,  let  us  consider  first 
whether  there  be  any  recognized  standard,  any  tribunal  under 
the  Constitution,  by  which  constitutional  questions  are  to  be 
decided.  The  ordinary  citizen  will  be  content  to  admit  the  fact 
that  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  is  an  authority  on 
questions  of  law  ;  but  our  Liberal  opponents  will  not  be  satis- 
fied unless  this  high  court  have  a  constitutional  right  to  exist. 
To  meet  their  views,  then,  I  quote  the  provisions  of  Article  III., 
Section  i  :  "  The  judicial  power  of  the  United  States  shall  be 
vested  in  one  Supreme  Court,  and  in  such  inferior  courts  as 
Congress  may  from  time  to  time  ordain  and  establish." 

The  Constitution,  then,  appoints  this  high  court,  and  with  it 
not  only  grants  a  power  to  Congress  to  establish  post-offices, 
etc.,  but  with  the  power  the  right  to  enact  all  necessary  and 
proper  laws  for  carrying  into  execution  that  power.  "  It 
meant  to  create  an  establishment  as  an  entirety,  and  not  merely 
to  designate  the  place  where  mails  should  be  taken  to,  and 
the  routes  along  which  they  should  be  transported  from  point 
to  point ;  but  gave  full  sovereign  control  over  the  whole  sub- 
ject to  be  exercised  by  any  appropriate  means." 

The  above  proposition  is  sustained  by  the  following  high 
authorities  :  Kohl  vs.  United  States,  91  U.  S.,  367  ;  Dickey  vs. 
Turnpike  Co.,  7  Dana,  113  ;  Sturtevants  vs.  Alton,  3  McLain, 
393;  2d  Story  on  Const,  Section  1125  to  1150;  Rawle  on 
Const,  ch.  9,  pp.  103,  104. 

Having  exclusive  power  over  the  subject,  Congress  can  say 
what  matter  shall  receive  the  benefit  of  this  establishment ;  and 
those  who  complain  that  they  cannot  use  it  to  facilitate  obscene 
or  improper  communications,  no  more  defend  a  constitutional 
right,  than  did  the  debtor  who  could  not  avail  himself  of  the 
Bankrupt  act,  because  owning  but  one  hundred  dollars,  or 
because  (under  the  first  law  on  this  subject)  not  a  trader. 

It  is  a  question  of  administration  merely.  There  is  no  con- 
stitutional right  to  compel  the  granting  of  privileges  under  the 
power  to  establish  a  system  of  bankruptcy  or  of  mail  communi- 
cation. ' '  The  powers  given  are  understood,  in  a  large  sense,  to 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  217 

secure  all  public  interests."  So  says  2d  Story  on  Const,  Sec- 
tion 1134.  "All  public  interests"  require  the  exclusion  of 
articles  morally  contaminating,  as  well  as  of  poisons,  glass,  or 
explosives.  To  prohibit  their  deposit  in  the  mails  is  the  decla- 
ration of  a  right  as  essential  to  the  beneficial  exercise  of  the 
power,  though  not  indispensably  necessary  to  its  existence. 

Says  Justice  Cox,  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  District  of 
Columbia,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  court  in  the  cele- 
brated case  of  M.  A.  Dauphin  vs.  D.  M.  Key,  Postmaster- 
General  :  * 

"  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  provides  that  Con- 
gress shall  have  the  power  to  establish  post-offices  and  post- 
roads.  This  is  not  a  duty,  but  a  power  ;  and  like  all  the  other 
powers  enumerated  by  the  eighth  section  of  the  first  article,  the 
extent  and  mode  of  its  exercise  depend  entirely  on  the  discre- 
tion of  Congress.  They  may  decline  to  exercise  that  power  at 
all,  as  they  have  declined  to  exercise  others  of  their  powers ; 
or  they  might  have  left  the  whole  work  of  mail  communication 
to  the  States,  or  to  individual  enterprise." 

Then,  speaking  of  their  constitutional  limitation,  this  learned 
court  says  : 

' '  If  Congress  shall  choose  to  exercise  this  power,  what  con- 
stitutional limitations  are  there  upon  it  ?  In  express  terms, 
absolutely  none.  Congress  may,  therefore,  provide  just  such 
mail  facilities  as  they  think  proper,  and  may  from  time  to  time 
change  and  regulate  the  whole  postal  system  in  their  discretion. 
When  they  have  exercised  this  power,  it  is  simply  a  discre- 
tionary provision  for  the  business  needs  of  the  public.  The 
whole  postal  system  is  a  mere  business  accommodation  for  the 
people.  The  privileges  it  confers  are  simply  of  legislative 
creation,  and  are  subject  to  legislative  destruction." 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  the  case  of  ex 
parte  Jackson,  f  6  Otto,  627,  says  : 

*  In  this  case  it  is  said  to  have  been  the  second  instance  when  all 
six  judges  of  this  court  sat  together  in  a  case. 
\  Jackson  had  been  convicted  in  the  United  States  Circuit  Court  in 


2i8  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

"  The  power  possessed  by  Congress  embraces  the  regulation 
of  the  entire  postal  system  of  the  country.  The  right  to  desig- 
nate what  shall  be  carried  necessarily  involves  the  right  to  deter- 
mine what  shall  be  excluded.  .  .  .  Under  the  power  to  estab- 
lish post-offices  and  post-roads,  it  must  be  held  that  Congress 
has  the  right  to  prescribe  what  it  will  carry  along  the  post- 
roads  as  part  of  the  mail,  and  what  it  will  not  carry,  and  to 
render  this  enactment  efficient  by  punishing  the  offence  of  vio- 
lation of  it.  Whether  certain  things  shall  be  excluded  or 
not,  is  a  matter  for  the  sound  discretion  of  Congress. ' ' 

It  is  claimed  by  Mr.  Palmer  and  others  of  his  co-repealers 
that  Webster,  Calhoun,  and  other  eminent  gentlemen  ques- 
tioned the  power  of  Congress  to  exclude  abolitionist  newspapers, 
circulars,  etc.  from  the  mails,  and  some  of  them  doubted  the 
power  of  Congress,  because  they  claimed  ' '  that  it  was  interfer- 
ing with  the  freedom  of  the  press. 

The  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  however,  has  set- 
tled this  question.  In  the  case  of  Jackson,  above  referred  to, 
the  court  says  :  "  It  does  not  interfere  with  the  liberty  of  the 
press,  because  the  moment  matter  is  excluded  from  the  mail, 
it  is  no  longer  mailable  matter,  and  it  has  full  liberty  of  circu- 
lation in  any  manner.  .  .  .  The  United  States  simply  decline 
to  carry  it ;  so  of  lottery  matter  and  indecent  literature  that  are 
not  mailable  ;  but  the  very  act  of  declaring  them  such,  opens 
every  line  of  road  in  the  United  States  to  them,  subject  to  State 
law. ' ' 

There  is  a  vast  difference  between  the  rights  existing  in  the 
discretion  of  Congress,  and  those  fundamental  rights  of  "  life, 
liberty,  and  property,"  which  are  secured  by  the  Constitution. 
Says  Justice  Cox,  in  the  above  cited  case  : 

' '  While  the  absolute  right  of  the  citizen  to  have  this  business 

and  for  the  Southern  District  of  New  York,  for  sending  letters  and 
circulars  concerning  lotteries,  in  sealed  envelopes,  through  the  mails. 
He  was  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine,  and  sought  to  have  his  case  brought 
before  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  on  habeas  corpus,  to  test 
the  constitutionality  of  the  law  and  the  legality  of  his  sentence  under  it. 


MORE    LIBERAL    TRAPS.  219 

convenience  provided  for  him  cannot  be  maintained,  it  may  be 
said  that  the  right  exists  under  the  Constitution  conditionally, 
that  if  Congress  shall  once  exercise  its  discretionary  power,  it 
cannot  discriminate  between  persons  or  classes  of  persons  ;  it 
must  legislate  for  all  alike.  All  the  citizens  of  the  United 
States  have  a  constitutional  right  to  equal  participation  in  the 
benefits  of  legislation,  and  the  use  of  any  instrumentality  created 
by  it,  unless,  at  least,  the  exclusion  be  imposed  by  way  of 
punishment  for  crime,  and  that  after  due  conviction  only  ; 
and  that  any  condition  destructive  of  this  equality  is  repugnant 
to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution." 

In  the  celebrated  Slaughter  House  cases,  16  Wall.  36,  where 
an  exclusive  right  had  been  given  by  law  to  a  private  company 
to  establish  landings  for  cattle,  and  places  where  they  should  be 
slaughtered  in  New  Orleans,  every  other  person  was  forbidden 
to  slaughter  elsewhere.  It  was  claimed  that  this  virtually 
destroyed  the  business  of  the  butchers  not  connected  with  this 
company.  But,  says  the  United  States  Supreme  Court, 
"  unwholesome  trades,  slaughter  houses,  etc.  may  be  inter- 
dicted by  law  in  the  midst  of  dense  masses  of  population,  on  the 
general  and  rational  principle  that  ever)'  person  ought  so  to  use 
his  property  as  not  to  injure  his  neighbor,  and  that  private 
interests  must  be  subservient  to  the  general  interests  of  the  community. 
This  is  called  the  police  power. ' ' 

Apply  this  principle  to  the  trade  in  obscene  publications,  and 
where  is  the  right  found  to  debauch  youth,  or  use  any  depart- 
ment of  government  for  such  a  vile  purpose  ? 

Says  Justice  Field,  in  delivering  the  opinion  of  the  United 
State  Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of  Cummings  vs.  The  State,  4 
Wall.  277  :  "  The  theory  upon  which  our  institutions  rest  is, 
that  all  men  have  certain  inalienable  rights  ;  that  among  these 
are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  and  that  in  the 
pursuit  of  happiness  all  avocations,  all  honors,  and  all  posi- 
tions are  alike  open  to  every  one,  and  that  in  the  protection 
of  these  rights  all  are  equal  before  the  law.  Any  deprivation 
or  suspension  of  any  of  these  rights,  for  past  conduct,  is  pun- 


220  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

ishment,  and  can  in  no  otherwise  be  denned.  .  .  .  Disquali- 
fication from  the  pursuits  of  a  lawful  avocation  or  from  pur- 
suits of  trust,  or  from  the  privilege  of  appearing  in  the  court, 
or  from  acting  as  executor,  etc.,  may  also,  and  has  often  been 
imposed  as  punishment." 

"  The  police  power  of  the  government  cannot  be  abridged/' 
says  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of  J.  B. 
Stone  et  a!.,  plaintiff  in  error,  vs.  The  State  of  Mississippi. 
(This  was  a  case  where  the  State  granted  Stone  and  others  a 
charter  for  a  lottery,  and  afterward,  finding  the  lottery  demor- 
alizing, repealed  the  charter.  Stone  and  his  associates  sought 
relief,  claiming  the  act  of  the  Legislature  unconstitutional, 
and  violating  their  contract  with  them.)  "The  Legislature 
had  no  authority  to  bargain  away  the  police  power  of  the  State, 
in  the  regulation  of  all  matters  affecting  the  public  health  and 
public  morals.  The  supervision  of  both  these  subjects  of 
governmental  power  is  continuing  in  its  nature,  and  they  are 
to  be  dealt  with  as  the  special  exigencies  of  the  moment  may 
require.  Government  is  organized  with  a  view  to  their  preser- 
vation, and  cannot  divest  itself  of  the  power  to  provide  for 
them." 

Says  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  in  the  slaughter 
house  case  above  referred  to,  speaking  of  this  police  power  : 
"  This  power  is  and  must  be,  from  its  very  nature,  incapable  of 
any  exact  definition  or  limitation.  Persons  and  property  are 
subjected  to  all  kinds  of  restraint  and  burdens  in  order  to 
secure  general  comfort;  Of  the  perfect  right  of  the  Legislature 
to  do  this,  no  question  ever  was  or  ever  can  be  made.  There 
can  be  no  doubt  that  this  police  power  extends  to  moral  as  well 
as  physical  evils." 

Says  Justice  Cox,  in  the  above  case  of  Dauphin,  where  the 
question  of  the  constitutionality  of  the  law  prohibiting  letters 
and  circulars  concerning  lotteries  was  involved  : 

' '  The  right  of  every  citizen  to  the  benefit  of  this  discretionary 
legislation  of  Congress  must  be  subject  to  the  necessities  of 
public  health,  morals,  order  t  and  the  general  welfare,  and  the 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  221 

efficient  execution  of  the  powers  expressly  conferred  by  the 
Constitution." 

It  is  a  well-settled  principle  that  no  person  can  be  deprived  of 
life,  liberty,  or  of  the  pursuit  of  happiness,  without  "  due  proc- 
ess of  law, ' '  and  then  this  deprivation  must  come  as  a  punish- 
ment under  the  police  power,  that  must  ever  remain  unabridged 
in  every  government.  And  I  challenge  Mr.  Palmer  and  the 
entire  army  of  his  co-repealers  to  produce  a  single  instance 
where,  under  the  law  they  complain  against,  any  man  has  been 
deprived  of  any  right  or  privilege  without  "  due  process  of 
law. ' ' 

We  have  it,  then,  on  the  authority  of  the  highest  court  of  the 
land,  that  Congress  has  the  power  to  establish  post-offices  and 
post-roads  ;  and  power  to  say  what  shall,  and  what  shall  not 
be  carried  in  the  mail  ;  and  the  right  to  impose,  in  their  dis- 
cretion, such  punishment  for  violation  of  these  laws  as  they 
may  in  their  wisdom  deem  proper. 

Congress  secures  to  Mr.  Palmer  and  his  friends  the  only  con- 
stitutional right  which  they  possess  under  these  laws — to  wit, 
the  right  to  transmit  such  matter  as  Congress  in  its  discretion 
permits  to  be  deposited  in  the  mail  at  a  uniform  rate  of  postage. 
But  Congress  says,  There  is  certain  matter  destructive  to  the 
security  of  social  order  and  the  morals  of  the  community, 
which  we  will  not  transmit  in  the  mails  ;  and  the  crime  is  in 
depositing  this  non-mailable  matter  for  the  purposes  of  mailing 
and  delivery  after  it  has  been  prohibited  by  law.  This  law 
does  not  prohibit  Mr.  Palmer  nor  any  of  his  Liberal  friends 
from  depositing  any  amount  of  obscene  matter  in  the  mails,  if 
he  does  not  put  it  in  there  for  the  purpose  of  "  mailing  and 
delivery  ;"  but  if  he  puts  it  in  an  envelope  or  wrapper,  and 
then  places  the  postage  and  an  address  upon  the  envelope  or 
wrapper,  and  then  puts  it  in  the  mai-1,  he  has  conformed  to  the 
custom  and  practice  of  the  country,  and  has  prepared  for  mail- 
ing and  delivery  certain  matter  which  Congress  in  its  discre- 
tion says  is  non-mailable  ;  and  the  act  of  putting  this  non- 
mailable  matter  in  the  mail  for  the  purpose  of  having  it  mailed 


222  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

and  delivered  to  the  party  addressed,  as  it  must  be  when  pre- 
pared as  aforesaid,  is  declared  a  crime  ;  to  prevent  which 
Congress  has  prescribed  a  penalty,  and  this  penalty  is  imposed 
by  "  due  process  of  law." 

Says  the  U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of  Murray's  Lessee 
:/ al.  vs.  Hoboken  Land  and  Improvement  Co.,  18  How.  272  : 

' '  '  Due  process  of  law  '  generally  implies  and  includes  actor 
reus  Judex,  regular  allegations,  opportunity  to  answer,  and  a 
trial  according  to  some  settled  course  of  judicial  proceedings." 

Says  Justice  Cox,  in  the  case  cited  above  : 

"  But  the  terms  '  due  process  of  law,'  as  employed  in  the 
Constitution,  apply  only  to  the  fundamental  rights  referred  to 
in  that  instrument,  and  are  inapplicable  to  mere  privileges  of 
legislative  creation.  As  to  these,  the  law  of  -England  furnishes 
no  precedent,  but  the  law  of  their  creation  determines  the  terms 
and  condition  of  their  enjoyment,  and  by  what  process  they  shall 
terminate. 

The  rights  to  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness  ante- 
date the  Constitution.  They  are  not,  then,  creatures  of  legisla- 
tion, but  are  rights  which  the  Constitution  recognizes  as  exist- 
ing when  it  first  appears,  and  which  it  solemnly  declares  shall 
be  permanently  secured  to  every  citizen. 

The  Declaration  of  Independence  declares  that  men  are 
endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights — life, 
liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness — that  to  secure  these  rights 
governments  are  instituted  among  men. 

The  same  token  that  secures  these  rights  also  says  :  "  Con- 
gress shall  have  power  to  establish  post-offices,  post- roads,  etc." 
How  ?  By  legislative  enactment  within  its  discretion.  It 
may  01  may  not  establish,  but  it  shall  have  the  power  to  do 
so  if  it  thinks  proper.  Were  thought  and  speech  free  before 
these  constitutional  enactments — before  Congress  exercised  its 
discretion  about  this  matter  ?  Then  wherein  is  it  entrammelled 
by  Congress  declaring  "  every  obscene,  lewd,  and  lascivious 
book,  etc. ,  are  hereby  declared  to  be  non-mailable ' '  ?  This 
practically  says  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  will 


MORE   LIBERAL    TRAPS.  223 

not  become  partner  with  the  venders  of  obscene  matter,  nor 
allow  any  department  which  it  creates  to  be  made  an  agency 
for  its  dissemination. 

The  ' '  curt' '  expression  used  by  Mr.  Palmer  of  ' '  Free  mails 
or  free  morals,  which  ?"  becomes  a  ludicrous  absurdity.  The 
right  to  send  obscene  matter  by  mail  is  not  one  of  the  ' '  inalien- 
able rights"  affirmed  by  the  Constitution.  But  the  Liberals 
overlook  and  ignore  Article  V.  of  the  Constitution,  which 
declares  that  no  person  shall  be  deprived  of  life,  liberty,  or 
property  without  due  process  of  law. 

We  have  it,  then,  that  a  person  may  be  deprived  of  his  inalien- 
able rights — rights  which  are  fundamental,  natural,  and  ante- 
dating all  constitutions — and  which  the  Constitution  was  framed 
to  protect,  by  due  process  of  law. 

What  did  the  Liberal  obscenity-monger  do  before  Congress 
possessed  the  power  to  establish  post-offices  and  post-roads  ? 
Where  is  the  life,  or  property  interest  to  debauch  the  morals  of 
the  young'  to  be  found  in  the  Constitution  ?  No  man  will  dare 
libel  our  forefathers  by  suggesting  that  even  for  one  moment 
they  dreamed  that  such  a  claim  could  be  made  under  their 
form  of  government.  Had  they  suspected  the  barest  possibility 
of  such  an  outrage,  they  would  have  framed  an  iron-bound 
section  to  prevent  it. 

The  liberty  they  fought  for,  and  declared  to  be  our  inalien- 
able right,  never  was  so  mean  a  thing  as  to  harbor  such  a 
parasite  as  obscenity.  Can  Congress  legislate  in  no  manner 
other  than  as  approved  by  these  so-called  Liberals  ?— liberal  to 
vice  and  crime,  liberal  to  license  wrong-doing,  liberal  to  blas- 
pheme the  holy  name  of  God,  liberal  to  abrogate  laws  designed 
to  preserve  the  Sabbath  and  prevent  the  morals  of  the  young 
from  becoming  debauched,  liberal  to  turn  loose  the  appetites 
and  passions  of  men,  while  this  license  sinks  them  below  the 
level  of  the  brute  ! 

I  deny  their  right  to  thus  distort  and  misrepresent  facts  in 
the  interest  of  obscenity.  No,  Liberals  !  the  morals  of  the 
children  first.  Our  forefathers  fought  not  for  pagan  ideas  ;  they 


224  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

died  not  for  obscenity  in  any  form,  nor  suffered  to  perpetuate 
it. 

Mr.  Palmer  says  : 

"  Second,  these  laws  are  useless.  The  forbidden  articles  can 
be  sent  everywhere  by  express." 

I  reply  :  The  government  has  nothing  whatever  to  do  about 
what  express  companies  or  other  agencies  do  outside  of  the 
mails.  It  does  not  and  cannot  interfere  with  such  matters. 
These  evils  must  be  met  by  State  legislation — each  State  for 
itself.  Congress  legislates  only  for  that  over  which  it  has  con- 
trol, and  by  this  act  it  practically  says  the  postal  department 
of  the  United  States  shall  not  be  used  to  demoralize  the  com- 
munity or  debase  society  by  the  dissemination  of  obscene  mat- 
ter. It  recognized  the  fact  that  the  mails  of  the  United  States 
were  the  most  powerful  agency  in  the  dissemination  of  this  vile 
matter.  The  man  who  goes  to  the  express  office  or  to  the 
common  carrier  with  a  package  to  be  delivered  by  them  reveals 
his  personal  identity  ;  while  he  may  deposit  the  same  matter 
without  any  person  seeing  or  knowing  about  it  in  the  mails  of 
the  United  States,  through  some  letter-box  or  post-office. 

Again,  the  extra  expense  by  express  or  other  methods  outside 
of  the  mails,  as  compared  with  the  low  rates  of  postage,  is  a 
special  reason  why  this  law  should  stand  as  it  is.  As  a  matter 
of  fact,  the  amount  sent  by  express  is  not,  and  never  has  been, 
a  tithe  scarcely,  as  compared  to  that  sent  by  mail.  This  I  find 
from  personal  observation  and  investigation. 

I  reply  to  Mr.  Palmer,  from  my  eleven  years'  experience,  that 
these  postal  laws  are  an  imperative  necessity  j  that  no  criminal  law 
of  the  States,  whatever  their  provisions  concerning  the  distribu- 
tion of  obscene  or  unlawful  matter,  would  be  adequate  to  sup- 
press this  evil. 

I  ask  him,  as  an  intelligent  man,  How  would  he  secure  the 
evidence  to  convict  a  dealer  in  obscene  books  residing  in  this 
State,  who  should  send  his  foul  matter  to  the  children  in  the 
South  and  West  ?  By  what  State  legislation  will  you  secure 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  225 

the  attendance  of  a  witness  outside  of  the  State  ?  Under  these 
laws,  and  under  the  process  of  the  United  States  court,  a  wit- 
ness can  be  brought  from  any  part  of  the  Union  to  give  testi- 
mony ;  without  this  law,  I  unhesitatingly  declare  that  the 
basest  men  could  carry  on  their  nefarious  business  through  the 
mails,  contaminating  the  youth  all  over  the  land,  and  there 
would  be  no  legal  redress. 

Mr.  Palmer  makes  a  most  astonishing  statement  when  he 
says  that  "  only  State  laws  that  strike  at  its  root  and  reach 
its  printing,  manufacture,  and  transmission  of  every  form,  can 
be  efficient. ' ' 

I  meet  this  by  saying  that  after  making  more  than  seven  hun- 
dred and  fifty  arrests  during  the  past  eleven  years,  and  being 
familiar  with  all  the  prosecutions  for  these  crimes,  I  unhesita- 
tingly declare  the  above  contrary  to  the  facts. 

One  case  will  illustrate.  A  man  named  Simpson,  in  New 
York,  was  twice  arrested  under  State  laws,  convicted,  and  sen- 
tenced. At  each  arrest  large  quantities  of  vile  stock  were  seized 
and  destroyed.  Yet  each  time  he  served  his  sentence,  and 
coming  out  resumed  his  nefarious  business,  advertising  in  sport- 
ing papers,  and  sending  his  vile  wares  all  over  the  country. 
The  third  time  he  was  arrested  and  gave  bail,  keeping  right  on 
violating  the  laws.  At  last,  arrested  under  the  act  of  Congress 
of  1873,  ne  was  tried,  convicted,  and  sentenced,  and  then,  and 
not  till  then,  did  his  accursed  traffic  cease. 

After  the  State  law  was  enacted  by  the  Legislature  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  in  1872,  the  hundreds  of  venders  of 
obscenity  then  in  existence  flew  to  the  mails  for  protection,  and 
sent  their  vile  matter  outside  the  State,  and  but  for  this  postal 
law  they  could  not  have  been  reached. 

Take,  for  instance,  the  miscreants  who  seek  to  communicate 
with  the  youth  whose  names  they  find  on  the  catalogues  of  col- 
leges and  seminaries.  This  is  done  almost  constantly,  and 
before  this  law  was  enacted  the  mails  were  literally  loaded  down 
with  this  vile  stuff.  Hon.  C.  L.  Merriam,  who  introduced  this 


226  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

law  of  1873  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  on  visiting  the 
Dead  Letter  Office  about  that  time,  found  sacks  full  of  this 
abominable  matter. 

On  a  recent  visit  to  the  Dead  Letter  Office  I  was  informed 
that  for  months  previous  to  my  visit  scarcely  an  obscene  book 
or  picture  had  been  discovered.  What  does  this  argue  ?  The 
opponents  of  this  law  either  do  not  know  what  they  are  talking 
about  or  else  they  are  governed  by  a  corrupt  motive  in  making 
these  broad  and  specific  charges  against  this  law,  and  what  is 
being  done  to  enforce  it.  This  law  is  indispensable. 

In  depriving  the  dealer  in  filth  of  the  use  of  the  mails,  a  fatal 
blow  was  struck  at  this  traffic. 

Is  not  Mr.  Palmer  a  little  illogical  ? 

While  clamoring  for  "free  press,"  "free  speech,"  and 
"  free  mails,"  and  claiming  that  these  are  abridged  by  the 
United  States  statute  which  declares  obscene  matter  non- 
mailable,  he  yet  proposes  to  suppress  obscene  matter  by  State 
legislation  against  printing  and  manufacturing  the  same.  Is 
not  this  a  little  inconsistent  ?  Is  there  not  danger  that  the 
State  may  legislate  away  some  of  the  inalienable  rights  which 
he  claims  to  possess — the  right,  for  instance,  to  publish  ob- 
scene matter  under  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  of 
America  ? 

If  the  Constitution  will  not  permit  Congress  to  legislate 
against  the  transmission  of  this  matter  in  the  mail,  because  it 
invades  the  rights  of  a  citizen  and  abridges  his  liberty,  then 
certainly  it  reaches  to  the  State  legislation,  and  would  pro- 
hibit legislation  that  says,  This  matter  shall  not  be  printed, 
because  the  State  law  goes  further  than  that  of  the  United 
States  can  in  this  respect,  and  provides  a  penalty  not  only  for 
printing,  but  for  selling,  giving  away,  lending,  showing,  and 
having  in  the  possession  for  such  purposes. 

Another  inconsistency  is  in  supposing  that  the  inalienable 
right  to  "  the  pursuit  of  happiness"  does  not  embrace  the  right 
to  defend  the  morals  of  one's  children.  What  greater  joy, 
what  more  precious  happiness,  than  to  be  assured  that  one's 


MORE   LIBERAL   TRAPS.  227 

children  are  pure  and  clean,  honest,  intelligent,  and  honor- 
able? To  corrupt  a  child,  or  lead  a  youth  astray  from  virtue's 
path  is  to  destroy  all  happiness  in  the  parent's  heart.  The 
most  beautiful  home  and  the  abundance  of  luxuries  are  but 
mockeries  to  one  whose  sweet  child  has  been  defiled.  Who 
would  not  rather  sacrifice  property  and  personal  interests  and 
rights  than  have  his  children  defiled  by  obscene  publications  ? 

It  can  never  be  maintained  but  that  the  majority  in  this 
community  are  in  favor  of  good  morals,  and  interested  in 
keeping  the  children  pure  ;  and  it  is  the  height  of  arrogance 
for  a  handful  of  license-every-evil  advocates  seriously  to  demand 
the  right  to  send  shame  into  homes,  sorrow  into  parents'  hearts, 
and  defilement  into  all  communities,  by  opening  the  secret 
avenues  of  the  mails  to  disseminate  this  accursed  matter. 

The  next  argument  of  Mr.  Palmer  is  one  which  the  Liberals 
have  worn  threadbare.  He  says  : 

"  For  one  hundred  years  we  have  done  without  the  danger- 
ous United  States  law.  Why  resort  to  it  now,  fraught  as  it  is 
with  so  much  danger  to  constitutional  liberty  ?" 

Thoughtful  reader,  I  leave  you  to  judge  whether  there  is 
enough  "constitutional  liberty"  involved  to  cover  the  point 
of  a  cambric  needle,  while  I  answer  Mr.  Palmer's  first  sugges- 
tion about  "  one  hundred  years,"  etc. 

Yes,  until  1868  there  was  no  postal  law  against  obscene 
matter.  Under  the  fostering  care  of  the  State  Legislature,  and 
in  defiance  of  common  law,  the  business  grew  to  huge  pro- 
portions, until,  as  has  been  shown,  there  were  published  one 
hundred  and  sixty- five  different  books,  seventeen  hundred  pict- 
ures, besides  thousands  of  obscene  pamphlets,  songs,  cards, 
etc. ,  in  this  country. 

At  the  beginning  of  this  work  I  seized  from  one  concern 
over  nine  tons'  weight  of  obscene  books,  pictures,  plates,  etc. , 
and  had  at  one  time  stored,  awaiting  the  order  of  the  court  to 
destroy  it,  ten  tons  weight  of  this  vile  matter. 

They  had  certainly  an  opportunity  to  try  State  law  and  State 
legislation,  and  it  failed,  until,  combined  with  the  United 


228  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

States  statute,  assailed  by  Mr.  Palmer,  we  have  been  enabled 
to  well-nigh  crush  this  hydra-headed  monster. 

In  view  of  these  facts,  why  go  back  to  State  legislation  ? 

Do  the  Liberals  know  these  facts  ? 

I  reply,  If  they  do  not,  they  alone  are  to  blame,  as  they 
have  had  the  fullest  opportunity  to  be  informed  if  they  chose. 

Again  Mr.  Palmer  declares  :  "  We  cannot  have  a  free 
country  where  freedom  of  thought  is  denied,  and  as  a  condi- 
tion of  freedom  of  thought,  not  only  freedom  of  speech  and  of 
the  press,  but  also  freedom  of  the  mails,  is  essential." 

Now,  Mr.  Palmer,  suppose  you  take  a  notion  of  freedom  to 
shoot  children,  freedom  to  cut  off  their  noses,  freedom  to 
send  boxes  of  snakes  and  scorpions  by  mail  to  the  girls  in  our 
seminaries,  freedom  to  light  matches  in  a  powder  magazine, 
you  would  complain  that  you  were  restrained  of  your  "  con- 
stitutional liberty,"  if  some  citizen  whose  child's  life  was  en- 
dangered or  property  jeoparded  should  interpose  an  objection 
to  your  "  freedom"  to  do  these  things. 

Pray  tell  how  much  more  freedom  of  speech,  press,  or 
thought  existed  in  the  natural  state  of  man  in  this  country, 
prior  to  the  Constitution  ?  What  special  rights  have  you  ac- 
quired by  the  exercise  of  the  discretion  of  Congress  in  estab- 
lishing a  postal  department  under  the  power  conferred  upon  it 
by  the  Constitution  ? 

As  has  been  seen,  all  Liberals  possess  the  right  to  send  such 
matter  by  mail  as  Congress  shall  permit  to  go  into  them,  at  a 
uniform  rate  of  postage.  This  is  their  constitutional  right. 

But  common  law  antedates  the  Constitution.  By  referring 
to  common-law  decisions  it  will  be  found  that  the  dissemina- 
tion of  obscene  matter  was  indictable  under  the  common  law 
before  the  Declaration  of  Independence  or  the  adoption  of  the 
Constitution,  so  that  we  find  a  restriction,  inherent  in  every 
civilized  government,  against  that  which  affects  good  morals  : 

"  An  indictment  at  common  law  may  be  maintained  for  any 
offence  which  is  against  public  morals  or  decency. 


MORE   LIBERAL    TRAPS.  229 

1 '  Under  this  head  may  be  comprehended  every  species  of  rep- 
resentation, whether  of  writing  or  printing,  or  by  any  manner 
of  sign  or  substitute  which  is  indecent  or  contrary  to  public 
order."  (zd  Archibald,  Cr.  Pr.  and  PI.,  p.  217.) 

Again  :  "  What  tends  to  corrupt  society  was  held  to  be  a 
breach  of  the  peace,  punishable  by  indictment.  Hence  it  fol- 
lows that  the  offence  may  be  punishable  if  in  its  nature  and  by 
its  example  it  tends  to  the  corruption  of  morals,  although  it  be 
not  committed  in  public."  (P.  217  ;  King  vs.  Curl,  2  Str. 
p.  788.)  . 

Again,  in  the  same  case,  this  highest  court  in  England  says  : 
' '  The  publication  of  an  obscene  book  is  an  offence  at  common 
law,  as  it  tends  to  corrupt  the  morals  of  the  king's  subjects  and 
is  against  the  peace  of  the  king.  Peace  includes  good  order 
and  government,  and  that  peace  may  be  broken  in  many 
instances  without  actual  force— to  wit:  First,  if  it  bean  act 
against  the  constitution  or  civil  government  ;  second,  if  it  be 
against  religion  ;  third,  if  it  be  against  morality." 

And  there  is  a  chain  of  unbroken  authorities  to  sustain  the 
above  proposition.  As  far  back  as  1815  the  following  was  the 
recognized  law  in  this  country  : 

"  Any  offence  which  in  its  nature  and  by  its  example  tends 
to  the  corruption  of  morals,  as  an  exhibition  of  an  obscene 
picture,  etc.,  is  indictable  at  common  law."  (2  Sergeant  & 
Rawle,  Pa.  Reports,  p.  91.) 

"  Every  public  show  and  exhibition  which  outrages  decency, 
shocks  humanity,  is  contra  donas  mores,  and  is  punishable  at 
common  law."  (Knowles  vs.  State  of  Conn.  (1808),  3  Day 
(Conn.),  p.  103.) 

Utterance  of  obscene  words  in  public,  being  a  gross  violation 
of  public  decency  and  good  morals,  is  indictable.  (Peel  vs. 
The  State  (1851),  i  Swan's  Tenn.  Reports,  p.  42  ;  The  State 
vs.  Appling  (1857),  4  Jones's  Missouri  Reports,  p.  315  ;  Com- 
monwealth vs.  Bajser  (1852),  19  Pa.  Reports,  p.  412  ;  Res. 
vs.  Benfield  (A.  D.  1760),  2  Burr's  Reports,  p.  980.) 


*3°  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

And  I  call  attention  not  only  to  all  the  cases  tried  since,  but 
I  challenge  them  to  find  this  principle  set  aside  by  any  court 
in  England  or  America. 

We  concede,  then,  the  right  to  use  the  mails,  and  if  the  gov- 
ernment shall  exclude,  for  any  reason,  any  matter  from  the  mail, 
that  the  State  has  the  undoubted  right  to  make  provision  for 
anything  which  Congress  excludes. 

"  If  any  State  chooses  to  sanction  a  business  which  the  Fed- 
eral Congress  thinks  ought  not  to  have  the  use  of  the  mails  to 
facilitate  its  transactions,  that  State  can,  if  it  please,  provide 
means  of  communication  for  matter  so  excluded  from  the 
mails."  (2  Story  on  Constitution,  Sec.  1150;  i  Tucker's 
Blackst.  Com.  App.  265.) 

Mr.  Palmer's  argument  under  Section  4  of  his  article  is  an 
absurdity.  Indeed,  it  is  difficult  to  discuss  what  Mr.  Palmer 
says  without  applying  a  much  severer  term.  Let  me  refer  to 
one  more  point,  where  he  speaks  of  "  irresponsible  associations, 
upon  whom  is  conferred  the  unrepublican  power  not  only  of 
prosecution  but  of  arrest" 

Justice  and  truth  require  that  this  be  branded  as  unqualifiedly 
false.  There  is  not  a  single  word  in  the  above  law  that  can  be 
so  distorted  ;  and  I  do  not  know  of  a  line  in  any  statute, 
either  State  or  Federal,  that  is  capable  of  such  a  construction. 
The  Attorney- General,  the  district  attorney  or  their  deputies, 
always  prosecute.  The  power  to  arrest  under  State  process 
in  New  York  is  derived  directly  from  the  Legislature. 

Under  the  new  Code  any  citizen  or  officer  may  arrest  a  person 
committing  a  crime  in  his  presence,  and  any  peace  officer  may 
execute  a  warrant. 

Under  the  United  States  laws  the  arrest  can  only  be  made 
by  the  marshal  or  his  deputy  on  a  warrant,  except  that  in  the 
absence  of  said  officer  the  court  may  designate  a  man  to  ar- 
rest upon  a  warrant.  Why  such  monstrous  perversions  of 
facts  ?  Is  obscenity  in  such  danger  of  being  suppressed  that 
the  Liberals  must  resort  to  such  tactics  to  protect  it  ? 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  231 

Decoys  ' '  inducing  Men  to  commit  Crime. 

But  Mr.  Palmer's  fifth  proposition  is  false  in  toto. 

"  But  these  laws  are  profoundly  immoral,"  he  says. 

I  put  the  law  in  evidence  as  the  best  proof  of  the  untruth 
of  this  statement. 

Then  he  assigns  two  reasons  :  ' '  First,  Because  they  involve 
immoral  means  and  methods  for  their  enforcement.  I  mean, ' ' 
he  says,  ' '  a  system  of  espionage  and  decoy. ' '  To  declare 
these  false  will  not  do  justice  to  the  cause  libelled.  I  have 
prosecuted  several  hundred  persons  under  these  laws.  I  am 
familiar  with  all  the  facts,  and  I  reply,  There  is  no  justification 
for  such  statements. 

There  are  no  ' '  decoys' '  used  by  the  officer  of  the  law.  And 
I  submit  the  proofs. 

Note  the  following  : 

First.  The  first  requisite  in  every  case  is  probable  cause  to 
believe  that  the  law  is  being  violated.  This  is  found  on  the  face 
of  the  vender's  printed  circular,  his  newspaper  advertisement, 
or  the  letter  of  complaint  or  package  which  is  frequently  sent 
the  officer  by  the  recipient,  showing  that  some  person  is 
violating  the  law. 

Second.  No  person  is  written  to  unless  there  be  cause  to 
believe  that  he  is  actually  engaged  in  violating  the  law. 

Third.  The  whole  business  through  the  mails  (I  speak  of  the 
sending  of  obscene  publications  and  articles  of  immoral  use) 
depends  upon  the  written  or  printed  circular  or  the  newspaper 
advertisement  for  success.  These  are  the  mediums  of  com- 
munication sent  out  by  the  vender  in  these  vile  wares.  Indeed 
they  are  his  stock  in  trade,  and  in  order  to  sell  what  he  hat  in- 
vested his  money  in,  he  sends  out  these  public  invitations  to 
those  whom  he  thinks  he  can  trust  not  to  expose  him.  These 
dealers  do  not  scruple  to  send  to  boys  and  girls,  whom  they  rely 
upon,  in  most  cases,  as  not  giving  them  away. 

Fourth.  Every  citizen  has  the  right  to  purchase  whatever  he 
sees  advertised,  and  in  the  manner  and  form  in  which  he  sees 
it  offered  for  sale. 


232  TRAPS  FOR  THE    YOUNG. 

Fifth.  A  citizen,  having  purchased  an  article,  has  the  right 
to  do  with  his  own  as  he  sees  fit,  so  long  as  he  does  not  violate 
the  law  of  the  land. 

Just  here  note  the  difference  between  the  officer  of  the  law 
and  the  ordinary  purchaser  of  this  matter.  The  latter  obtains 
it  to  satisfy  a  morbid  curiosity,  or  from  a  baser  motive,  and 
keeps  it  to  the  defilement  of  his  own  mind,  and  in  many  cases 
that  of  others.  The  officer  of  the  law  secures  the  advertised 
article  after  the  manner  and  form  as  advertised  by  the  criminal, 
but  instead  of  using  it  to  debauch  his  own  mind  and  that  of 
others,  he  practically  donates  it  to  the  prosecuting  officer  of 
the  government  as  the  best  evidence  that  he  can  obtain  to 
prove  the  business  of  the  man  who  voluntarily  has  set  himself 
up  in  a  traffic  that  violates  the  above  statute. 

Now  I  present  a  proposition  that  I  have  never  seen  mooted 
on  the  Liberal  side  of  this  question,  but  I  submit  it  without 
fear  of  contradiction,  that  the  real  ' '  decoy ' '  in  these  cases  is  the 
circular,  advertisement,  or  notice  sent  out  by  the  vender  to  allure 
youth  from  the  paths  of  virtue. 

Strange  as  it  may  seem,  these  liberal-minded  men  have 
never  condemned,  indeed  never  discovered,  this  "  decoy  "  in 
these  cases  ;  but  there  is,  however,  no  end  of  their  argument 
against  the  "  decoy" — "  the  immoral  means  and  methods  used 
for  their  enforcement' '  by  the  officer  whose  duty  it  is  to  enforce 
these  laws. 

Sixth.  The  letter  written  by  the  officer,  at  the  instigation  of 
the  public  advertisement  of  the  vender  of  dirt — made  necessary 
by  the  probable  cause  upon  the  face  of  the  circular,  notice,  or 
advertisement — is  not  a  "  decoy,"  but  a  "  test"  letter. 

To  decoy  is  to  turn  aside  from  one's  natural  course,  to  lead 
astray  ;  while  to  induce  another  to  commit  a  crime  offers  a 
premium  on  crime,  a  consideration  to  do  an  act  which  other- 
wise would  not  be  done.  Is  not  the  dealer  in  obscenity  watch- 
ing for  opportunities  to  violate  the  law  ?  Does  he  not  go  daily 
to  the  post-office  to  get  replies  to  his  advertisement — his  decoys 
— in  order  that  he  may  send  his  contraband  matters  to  those 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  233 

whom  he  has  induced  to  write  to  him  ?  It  is  absurd  to  talk 
about  inducing  such  miscreants  to  commit  a  crime.  It  is  base 
falsehood  to  say  an  officer  who  replies  to  such  an  advertisement 
for  the  purpose  of  testing  whether  or  no  the  law  is  being  violated 
sends  a  "decoy."  The  officer's  letter  does  not  cause  the 
scamp  to  do  an  act  he  is  not  anxiously  waiting  an  opportunity 
to  do.  The  Liberals  do  not  regard  it  immoral  for  a  child  to 
write  for  these  base  things.  Why  is  the  act  of  the  officer  im- 
moral ? 

There  is  no  more  justice  in  assailing  this  method  of  securing 
evidence,  and  calling  it  "  immoral,"  than  there  is  for  these 
men  to  point  out  an  eminent  surgeon  that  has  amputated  a 
limb  to  save  the  life  of  another,  and  denounce  him  as  a  mon- 
ster of  cruelty  because  "  he  took  a  knife  and  cut  off  another 
person's  arm  or  leg." 

What  consistency  is  there  in  pointing  out  a  physician  who 
finds  it  necessary  in  order  to  check  a  disease  to  administer  a 
deadly  poison  to  his  patient,  and  call  his  act  "  immoral "  ?  As 
just,  this,  as  to  say  the  measure  rendered  necessary  by  the 
criminal  in  order  to  detect  his  crime,  and  prevent  his  violation 
of  the  law,  is  an  "  immoral"  act  on  the  part  of  the  officer. 

On  the  same  principle  we  must  declare  that  a  match  manu- 
facturer induces  a  man  to  commit  suicide,  because  the  suicide 
goes  to  a  store  and  buys  a  box  of  matches,  and  then  deliber- 
ately seats  himself  upon  a  keg  of  powder  and  lights  the  match 
and  drops  it  in,  and  is  blown  to  atoms. 

The  act  of  the  suicide  and  the  vender  of  filth  are  both  volun- 
tary. They  require  no  inducements.  The  vender  of  obscen- 
ity has  equipped  himself  to  violate  the  law,  when  he  laid  in  his 
stock  in  trade  and  paid  for  printing  his  circulars.  The  Liberal's 
argument  amounts  to  just  this  :  "  The  obscenity  dealer  may 
advertise  his  wares  by  mail,  youth  may  write  for  his  wares,  but 
any  man  who  will  use  the  offered  wares  as  evidence  in  court 
against  the  villain  must  not  respond  to  the  advertisement  for  that 
purpose — that  is  immoral."  But  in  the  same  breath  Mr. 
Palmer  says  : 


234  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

' '  It  is  agreed  on  all  hands  that  obscenity  should  be  checked, 
and  if  possible  eradicated. ' '  This  is  like  the  man  who  dis- 
courses loudly  against  arson,  and  at  the  same  time  applies  a 
match  to  a  hay-mow. 

The  principle  by  which  these  crimes  are  proven  by  corre- 
spondence was  established  long  before  this  statute  was  ever 
dreamed  of. 

On  this  subject,  Greenleaf,  in  his  work  on  Evidence,  vol.  i. 
p.  623,  note  i,  says  :  "  If  a  letter  has  been  sent  to  the  ad- 
verse party  by  post,  and  an  answer  received,  the  answer  may  be 
read  in  evidence  without  proof  of  the  handwriting. ' ' 

Mr.  Greenleaf  then  cites  various  authorities  as  supporting  the 
above  propositions. 

In  Russell  on  Crimes,  vol.  ii. ,  p.  817,  the  author  says  : 
' '  A  written  correspondence  with  the  party,  although  the  wit- 
ness has  never  seen  him  write,  will  be  sufficient  to  enable  him 
to  swear  to  the  handwriting,  for  when  letters  are  sent  directed 
to  a  particular  person,  and  on  particular  business,  and  an  answer 
is  received  in  due  course,  a  fair  inference  arises  that  the  answer 
was  sent  by  the  person  whose  handwriting  it  purports  to  be. " 

The  same  principles  are  laid  down  by  Lord  Kenyon  in  Gary 
vs.  Pitt,  reported  in  the  appendix  of  Peake's  Evidenqe,  section 
85  :  "  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  above  principle  is  now  the 
law  of  England  and  America,  and  other  authorities  could  easily 
be  cited." 

I  maintain  that  not  only  is  the  law  strictly  constitutional,  but 
that  the  methods  employed  to  enforce  it  are  strictly  legal  and 
moral. 

It  is  simply  applying  straightforward  common-sense  method 
to  secure  legal  evidence  against  those  who  are  professional 
criminals,  by  which  to  properly  enforce  the  law,  and  thus 
secure  to  the  community  the  protection  from  this  accursed 
business  which  Congress  designed  the  community  to  have 
when  it  passed  this  law. 

One  point  note  especially  :  the  officer  does  not  write  for  a 
thing  which  is  not  advertised  or  being  sold. 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  «35 

He  does  not  ask  to  have  any  article  sent  by  mail.  He  directs 
his  letter  of  inquiry  as  to  the  facts  that  are  announced  in  the 
public  advertisement  or  circular,  and  then,  after  the  form  as 
laid  down  by  Greenleaf  on  Evidence  and  Russell  on  Crime,  as 
above  stated,  perfects  his  proof  against  the  criminal  and  brings 
him  to  justice. 

The  officer  loses  no  right  of  a  citizen  simply  because  he  is 
an  officer  with  a  sworn  duty  to  perform.  His  right  to  buy 
whatever  he  sees  advertised  is  not  abridged,  nor  can  it  be, 
under  the  Constitution,  in  the  absence  of  any  law  prohibiting 
such  purchase.  But  lest  I  shall  be  considered  as  without 
authority  upon  the  subject,  I  submit  the  following  proposition 
as  overwhelmingly  sustained  by  precedents  in  our  courts,  to 
wit  : 

' '  Letters  written  to  ascertain  if  the  laws  are  being  violated, 
and  to  secure  proof  of  such  violation,  are  letters  recognized  by 
the  courts  as  legal  and  proper.'-' 

Says  Judge  Dillon,  in  the  case  of  the  United  States  vs.  Whit- 
tier,  tried  in  the  United  States  Court  in  the  Eastern  District  of 
Missouri,  and  reported  in  Dillon's  Reports,  p.  35  : 

"  When  persons  are  suspected  of  being  engaged  in  a  viola- 
tion of  criminal  laws,  or  of  intending  to  commit  an  offence,  it  is 
lawful  to  resort  to  detective  measures  to  procure  evidence  of 
such  fact  or  intention.  Many  frauds  upon  the  postal,  revenue, 
and  other  laws  are  of  such  a  secret  nature  that  they  can  be 
effectually  discovered  in  no  other  way.  Accordingly  there  have 
been  numerous  convictions  upon  evidence  procured  by  means 
of  what  are  called  decoy  letters — that  is,  letters  prepared  and 
mailed  on  purpose  to  detect  the  offender,  and  it  is  no  objec- 
tion to  the  conviction,  when  the  prohibited  act  has  been  done, 
that  it  was  discovered  by  letters  specially  prepared  and  mailed 
by  the  officers  of  the  government,  and  addressed  to  a  person 
who  had  no  actual  existence.  The  books  contain  many  cases 
where  such  convictions  have  been  sustained." 

(United  States  vs.  Cottingham,  2  Blatchford,  470  ;  Regina 
vs.  Rathbone,  2  Moody's  Criminal  Cases,  310  ;  C.  C.  Carr 


236  TRAPS  FOR   THE   YOUNG. 

and  Marsh,  220  ;  Regina  vs.  Gardiner,  i  Carr  and  Convin, 
628;  Regina  vs.  Williams,  ib.  115;  Regina  vs.  Meuse,  i 
Carr  and  Marsh,  234  ;  United  States  vs.  Parsons,  2  Blatch- 
ford,  107  ;  United  States  vs.  Driscoll,  i  Lowell,  304  ;  United 

States  ztf. ,6  McLean,  129;  United  States  vs.  Toge,  i  Curtiss, 

366-7  and  8  ;  United  States  vs.  Brown,  2  C.  C.  269,  270  • 
United  States  vs.  Lancaster,  2  McLean,  233  ;  United  States  vs. 
Duff,  10  Federal  Reports,  94,  95  ;  United  States  vs.  Whittier, 
5  Dillon,  35.) 

In  the  latter  case  Judge  Dillon  also  says  :  ' '  We  do  not  decide 
that  decoy  letters  cannot  be  used  in  detecting  persons  engaged 
in  or  suspected  of  violation  of  law,  but  recognize  the  doctrine 
that  such  letters  may  be  so  used. ' ' 

In  the  same  case  he  says  :  "  When  the  guilty  intent  to  com- 
mit has  been  formed,  any  one  may  inquire  or  even  lend  assist- 
ance to  the  criminal,  with  the  laudable  purpose  of  exposing  and 
punishing  him." 

There  are  many  other  cases  that  could  be  cited  where  the 
above  propositions  are  fully  sustained,  but  until  the  above  are 
reversed  the  principle  which  has  been  employed  thus  far  in  the 
enforcement  of  this  postal  law  will  not  be  departed  from  ;  nor 
will  any  amount  of  Liberal  clatter  against  "  constitutional 
rights' '  and  ' '  immoral  practices' '  prevent  this  principle  from 
being  enforced  in  the  matter  of  getting  evidence  against  the 
venders  of  obscenity  whenever  they  are  discovered  operating 
through  the  mails. 

I  maintain,  then,  not  only  that  the  law  is  strictly  constitu- 
tional, but  that  the  methods  employed  to  enforce  it  are  strictly 
legal  and  moral.  It  then  remains  that  there  is  one  way  that  is 
practicable  in  the  enforcement  of  these  laws,  and  that  is  accord- 
ing to  the  principle  laid  down  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  case  of  ex  parte  Jackson,  96  U.  S.  R.  727, 
where  it  says  ': 

"  Whilst  regulations  excluding  matter  from  the  mail  cannot 
be  enforced  in  a  way  which  would  require  or  permit  an  exam- 
ination into  letters  or  sealed  packages  subject  to  letter  postage, 


MORE  LIBERAL    TRAPS.  237 

without  warrant  issued  upon  oath  or  affirmation,  in  the  search 
for  the  prohibited  matter,  they  may  be  enforced  upon  competent  evi- 
ence  of  their  violation  obtained  in  other  ways,  as  from  the  parties 
receiving  the  letters  or  packages.  .  .  ." 

Thus  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  approves  and 
sanctions  the  very  method  which  has  been  pursued  by  the 
writer  from  the  very  beginning — to  wit,  proving  the  crime  by 
what  the  sender  has  deposited  in  the  mail  for  mailing  and  de- 
livery, by  securing  the  matter  after  it  has  left  the  mails,  and 
bringing  the  same  into  court  as  evidence. 

I  also  maintain  that  the  Liberal  methods  employed  to  de- 
ceive the  public,  in  order  to  break  down  these  laws,  are  in  the 
highest  order  disreputable,  and  cannot  be  construed  as  on  the 
side  of  any  moral  or  decent  principle  ;  but  our  opponents  are 
acting  against  morals  and  common  decency,  and  in  the  interest 
of  the  loathsome  monster  ' '  obscenity. ' '  If  not,  why  such  distor- 
tion of  facts  ?  Why  such  efforts  to  mislead  and  becloud  the 
public  mind,  and  create  prejudices  against  the  legal  and  proper 
enforcement  of  this  righteous  law  ?  Liberty  is  not  endangered. 
Moral  purity  is.  There  is  a  wide  difference  between  the  pa- 
triot's liberty  and  the  Liberals'  so-called  liberty — license. 


CHAPTER   XIV. 

CONCLUSION. 

FROM  infancy  to  maturity  the  pathway  of  the  child  is  beset 
with  peculiar  temptations  to  do  evil.  Youth  has  to  contend 
against  great  odds.  Inherited  tendencies  to  wrong-doing  ren- 
der the  young  oftentimes  open  to  ever-present  seductions. 
Inherited  appetites  and  passions  are  secretly  fed  by  artificial 
means,  until  they  exert  a  well-nigh  irresistible  mastery  over  their 
victim.  The  weeds  of  sin,  thus  planted  in  weak  human  nature, 
are  forced  to  a  rapid  growth,  choking  virtue  and  truth,  and 
stunting  all  the  higher  and  holier  instincts.  Thus  many  a 
child  of  dissolute  parents  is  born  with  natural  desires  for  strong 
drink,  and  early  becomes  intemperate.  In  his  thoughtful 
moments  he  loathes  drink,  and  yet  there  comes  upon  him  a 
force  he  is  powerless  to  resist.  So,  too,  the  incontinence  of 
parents  brings  into  the  world  children  inheriting  morbidly  sus- 
ceptible natures  — natures  set  like  the  hair-trigger  to  a  rifle — 
ready  to  fall  into  shame  at  the  slightest  temptation. 

Among  beasts,  birds,  fishes,  and  reptiles  each  reproduces  its 
own  kind,  and  we  have  the  fierce  bravery  of  the  lion,  the 
treacherous  ferociousness  of  the  hyena,  the  sneaking  of  the 
panther,  the  slyness  of  the  fox,  the  nimbleness  of  the  squirrel, 
the  mischievousness  of  the  monkey,  the  lofty  soaring  of  the 
eagle,  the  unerring  aim  of  the  fish-hawk  darting  for  its  prey, 
the  sweet  notes  of  the  canary,  the  solemn  hoot  of  the  owl,  the 
form  and  scale  of  the  serpent  and  fish — all  peculiarities  ate 
transmitted  and  perpetuated.  In  like  manner  man  bequeaths 
to  his  offspring  not  only  color  and  form,  but  tastes,  appetites, 
and  passions.  If  diseases  of  the  body  may  be  transferred  to  the 


CONCLUSION.  239 

child  by  the  parent,  why  not  th'e  diseases  of  mind  and  char- 
acter ? 

It  may  not  be  pleasant  or  popular  to  speak  of  a  devil,  or  of 
his  having  a  kingdom  and  power  ;  but  I  doubt  if  any  man 
could  go  through  the  experiences  of  my  past  eleven  years  and 
not  be  thoroughly  persuaded  that  there  is  one,  and  that  he  has 
numerous  agencies  actively  employed  recruiting  for  his  king- 
dom from  the  ranks  of  the  young. 

I  believe  that  there  is  a  devil.  Those  who  disagree  with  me 
in  this  may  translate  my  language.  All  I  ask  is  that  they 
admit  the  vital  truth  on  which  I  insist.  Let  my  language  be 
considered  symbolical,  provided  the  evils  I  denounce  are 
regarded  as  diabolical.  The  devil  would  seem  to  take  all  these 
weak  and  susceptible  points  in  our  nature  into  careful  consider- 
ation, and  never  attacks  man  but  in  his  most  vulnerable  point. 
In  his  assaults  also  he  always  employs  his  most  insidious  and 
subtle  forces. 

We  speak  of  youth  as  the  plastic  state — the  period  of  all 
others  when  the  human  soul  is  most  easily  moulded  and  char- 
acter formed.  Youth  is  the  seed-time.  Maturity  gathers  in 
the  crop.  Youth  is  the  fountain  from  which  the  waters  of  life 
flow.  If  parents  do  not  train  and  instruct  their  children,  the  devil 
will.  Whether  parents  deem  it  important  to  watch  the  child 
or  no,  there  is  one  who  deems  it  so  important  that  he  keeps  a 
constant  watch.  The  devil  stations  a  sentry  to  observe  and  take 
advantage  of  every  point  open  to  an  evil  influence.  He  attacks  the 
sensitive  parts  of  our  nature.  He  would  destroy  the  finest  and 
most  magnificent  portion  of  our  being.  The  thoughts,  imag- 
ination, and  affections  he  is  most  anxious  to  corrupt,  pervert, 
and  destroy. 

The  inventive  genius  of  the  world  combined  cannot  con- 
struct or  design  a  mechanism  to  compare  with  the  delicate, 
complicated,  and  mysterious  construction  of  the  human  mind. 
Its  possibilities,  who  can  comprehend  ?  Its  power,  who  can 
measure  ?  Air  and  sea  have  had  to  give  up  their  mysteries. 
Lightnings  which  flash  from  one  part  of  the  heavens  to  another 


240  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

have  had  to  yield  to  superior  human  skill,  and  consent  to  be 
bottled  up,  and  be  transported  in  the  darkness  of  a  ship's  hold 
across  the  ocean.  The  sun,  moon,  and  stars  have  been  meas- 
ured, and  each  assigned  its  proper  place  in  the  firmament. 
The  bowels  of  the  earth  have  been  explored  and  forced  to  give 
up  their  precious  stores. 

To  prevent  the  development  of  this  divine  part  of  man  the 
devil  watches  at  his  birth  and  stands  by,  as  soon  as  a  soul  is 
born,  to  brand  it  as  his  own.  The  cunning  and  foresight  of 
the  prince  of  darkness  to  destroy  human  souls,  to  enlarge  his 
kingdom,  to  increase  the  ranks  of  the  lost,  are  only  exceeded 
by  the  atrocity  of  the  methods  employed.  He  starts  with  the 
babe,  and  follows  it  with  relentless  zeal  through  life. 

I  unhesitatingly  declare,  there  is  at  present  no  more  active 
agent  employed  by  Satan  in  civilized  communities  to  ruin  the 
human  family  and  subject  the  nations  to  himself  than  EVIL 

READING. 

Fill  a  clean,  clear  glass  with  distilled  water  and  hold  it  to  the 
light,  and  you  cannot  perceive  a  single  discoloration.  It  will 
sparkle  like  a  gem,  seeming  to  rejoice  in  its  purity,  and  dance 
in  the  sunlight,  because  of  its  freedom  from  pollution.  So 
with  a  child.  Its  innocence  bubbles  all  over  with  glee.  What 
is  more  sweet,  fascinating,  and  beautiful  than  a  pure,  innocent 
child  ?  But  put  a  drop  of  ink  into  the  glass  of  water,  and  at 
once  it  is  discolored.  Its  purity  cannot  easily  be  restored.  So 
drop  into  the  fountain  of  moral  purity  in  our  youth  the  poison 
of  much  of  the  literature  of  the  day,  and  you  place  in  their 
lives  an  all-pervading  power  for  evil.  A  perpetual  panorama 
of  vile  forms  will  keep  moving  to  and  fro  before  the  mind,  to 
the  exclusion  of  the  good. 

Evil  influences  burn  themselves  in.  Vile  books  and  papers  are 
branding-irons  heated  in  the  fires  of  hell,  and  used  by  Satan  to 
sear  the  highest  life  of  the  soul. 

The  world  is  the  devil's  hunting-ground,  and  children  are  his 
choicest  v  game.  All  along  their  pathway  the  merciless  hunter 
sets  his  traps,  and  they  are  set  with  a  certainty  of  a  large 


CONCLUSION.  241 

return.  To  corrupt  a  boy  or  girl,  he  knows  lessens  the  chance 
for  a  pure  man  or  woman.  If  at  the  beginning  of  life  the  mind 
and  soul  be  defiled,  he  reckons  that  the  youth  will  become  in 
the  community  a  sure  agent  to  drag  others  down. 

If  anything  can  make  the  dwellers  in  perdition  rejoice  and 
call  forth  shouts  of  applause  from  all  the  imps  of  darkness,  it 
must  be  the  knowledge  of  the  large  number  of  youth  turned 
from  virtue's  path  by  a  licentious  and  criminal  press  during  the 
past  twenty-five  years. 

There  is  a  special,  determined  effort  being  made  to  ruin  the 
brightest  and  purest  youth — the  hope  of  future  generations. 

If  I  could  drag  out  from  their  secrecy  and  expose  to  public 
gaze,  or  paint  these  agencies  for  evil  in  their  true  colors,  I  am 
sure  no  decent  person  would  differ  from  my  views.  But  I 
cannot. 

I  can  only  hope  that  I  have  made  a  good  outline  of  their 
effects  and  results. 

"  By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them." 

Let  thoughtful  minds  reflect  how  much  is  involved  in  the 
fact  that  the  boys  and  girls  of  to-day  must  become  the  men  and 
women  of  to-morrow.  ' '  Be  not  deceived  ;  God  is  not  mocked  : 
for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he  also  reap." 
Dickens  says,  "  As  ye  forge  your  chains,  you  must  wear  them." 
To  debauch  the  mind  of  a  child,  to  enslave  its  fancy,  to  per- 
vert its  taste  from  that  which  is  holy,  to  create  an  appetite  for 
strong  drink,  or  lead  it  down  to  secret  vices,  is  to  curse  its 
whole  life,  visit  shame  upon  the  family,  put  a  blight  on  pos- 
terity, cast  a  burden  on  society,  and  send  a  weakened  and  cor- 
rupt man  or  woman  into  the  future  generation.  The  family, 
society,  and  State  alike  suffer. 

Many  philanthropists  will  cheerfully  give  a  thousand  dollars 
to  aid  an  institution  which  provides  for  the  support  of  the  poor, 
or  to  a  reformatory  for  depraved  boys  and  girls,  and  yet  will 
not  give  a  thought  or  dollar  to  the  advisability  and  work  of 
closing  the  dens  that  make  paupers  and  thieves. 

If  gambling  saloons,  concert  dives,  letter}'  and  policy  shops, 


242  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

pool-rooms,  low  theatres,  and  rumholes  are  allowed  to  be 
kept  open  ;  if  obscene  books  and  pictures,  foul  papers  and 
criminal  stories  for  the  young  are  allowed  to  go  broadcast,  then 
must  State  Prisons,  penitentiaries,  workhouses,  jails,  reforma- 
tories, etc.  be  erected  and  supported.  Expensive  courts  and 
high-salaried  officials  must  be  employed  at  the  taxpayer's 
expense,  to  care  for  those  youths  who  are  ruined,  or  to  protect 
society  against  them. 

Every  boy  seduced  from  an  honest  life  is  a  candidate  for 
public  support.  This  will  be  either  by  lawless  plunderings  of 
the  community,  or  behind  prison-bars,  where  the  State  must 
put  him  to  prevent  his  crimes. 

Parents  do  not  permit  their  children  to  make  a  playhouse  of 
a  sewer,  nor  to  breathe  its  poisoned  gases.  It  is  not  popular 
to  set  diseased  meat  before  the  public  in  any  of  our  numerous 
hotels  or  restaurants.  Infected  clothing  may  not  be  offered 
for  sale,  much  less  hawked  about  the  streets.  Yet  worse  evils 
than  these  are  tolerated  and  encouraged,  even  while  they  are 
scattering  moral  death  and  physical  suffering  among  those 
whom  it  is  the  especial  duty  of  every  civilized  government  to 
shield  and  protect — the  young. 

It  matters  not  whether  it  be  the  publisher  of  the  grossest 
books,  the  keeper  of  the  dive  or  gambling  saloon,  the  lottery 
managers,  or  the  editor  of  the  blood-and-thunder  story  papers, 
half-dime  novels,  and  cheap  stories  of  crime — they  are  all,  will- 
ingly or  unwillingly,  Satan's  efficient  agents  to  advance  his 
kingdom  by  destroying  the  young. 

A  writer  for  one  of  the  vile  sheets  published  expressly  for 
boys  and  girls,  when  chided  by  a  friend  about  the  character  of 
his  productions,  replied,  "  It  pays  well.  I  work  for  money, 
and  this  is  the  easiest  way  to  earn  it. ' ' 

Here  we  have  a  quite  common  specimen  of  character.  A 
young  man  with  a  bright  intellect  and  a  collegiate  education 
bends  all  his  energies  to  make  money — but  at  what  a  cost ! 
Starting  an  immortal  being  on  the  road  to  ruin  at  the  threshold 
of  life/  corrupting  the  stream  at  the  fountain-head,  sending  an 


CONCLUSION.  243 

influence  into  the  community  that  must  widen  and  extend  for 
misery  through  many  years,  increasing  rather  than  decreasing 
crime  and  shame  and  sorrow,  perhaps  forever — this  is  the 
work  of  a  demon. 

If  some  relic  collector  should  chip  off  a  piece  of  the  cold 
marble  figure  of  our  lamented  Lincoln  as  it  stands  in  the 
rotunda  of  the  Capitol  at  Washington,  thus  defacing  that  work 
of  art,  the  newspaper  press  of  the  whole  country  would  cry 
out  against  it.  In  unmeasured  terms  they  would  denounce  the 
outrage.  The  indignation  of  the  populace  would  be  such  that 
the  vandal  would  not  dare  expose  his  trophy  to  view  ;  and  yet 
many  of  the  papers  that  would  thus  condemn  this  vandalism 
are  marring  figures  of  far  greater  importance — are  scarring  the 
minds  of  our  children  by  their  foul  utterances,  and  thus 
destroying  mechanisms  finer  and  grander  than  the  most  mar- 
vellous products  of  human  genius. 

How  divine  the  innocence  of  childhood,  the  simplicity  of 
youth  !  We  read  of  our  Saviour  that  "  He  took  a  little  child, 
and  set  it  in  the  midst  of  them,  and  said,  Of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  To  pour  into  the  mind  of  the  child  the 
sickening  details  of  the  doings  of  the  foul  and  criminal  ;  to 
load  it  with  the  slangy,  slimy,  senseless,  trashy,  and  criminal 
"  half-dime"  novels  and  story  papers,  or  to  give  ribald  and 
blasphemous  publishers  and  lecturers — the  devil's  sharpshooters 
— full  license  to  assail  the  pure  and  ingenuous  soul  of  the  child, 
is  to  sanction  a  vandalism  worse  a  thousandfold  than  the 
destruction  of  the  choicest  works  of  art. 

We  must  study  the  requirements  of  childhood  and  youth. 
It  is  not  enough  to  clothe  the  body  and  supply  its  food.  We 
must  consider  the  mind  and  watch  its  development.  It  is 
necessary  that  we  be  on  the  alert  to  head  off  the  agencies  of  evil, 
and  see  that  poisoned  shafts  are  not  thrown  at  our  children  in 
the  privacy  of  home. 

We  must  displace  the  evil  with  the  good.  This  should  not 
be  by  waiting  for  the  evil  to  take  possession,  and  then  seeking 
to  crowd  it  out,  but  by  the  parent's  most  earnest,  patient,  and 


244  TRAPS  FOR  THE   YOUNG. 

prayerful  effort  to  store  the  mind  early  with  good,  so  that  there 
is  neither  taste  nor  place  for  the  bad. 

We  assimilate  what  we  read.  The  young  mind  develops  with 
great  rapidity.  It  absorbs  and  has  a  strong  affinity  for  the 
sensational  and  exciting.  If  parents  do  not  provide  for  this 
appetite,  they  need  not  be  surprised  if  it  be  satiated  from 
another  source.  Place  a  dry  sponge  upon  a  plate  containing 
water,  and  soon  the  water  is  absorbed  and  the  sponge  is 
expanded.  Sprinkle  seeds  of  grass  or  flowers  over  the  sponge, 
and  soon  these  seeds  will  sprout  and  grow,  every  one  after  its 
kind.  So  surround  the  child  with  a  corrupt  literature,  and  the 
traits  of  character  in  the  stories  soon  develop  in  the  life  of  the 
child.  As  we  sow,  so  must  we  reap. 

Every  child  should  have  a  Bible  of  its  own.  Then  it  should 
be  early  trained  to  love  and  reverence  it  as  God's  word.  Let 
not  the  family  Bible  lie  covered  with  dust  or  buried  under  silly 
or  dissolute  story  papers.  It  should  be  an  open  book  in  every 
household. 

No  table  or  desk  was  ever  large  enough  to  contain  at  once 
God's  holy  word  and  a  criminal  or  hurtful  story.  It  is  an 
indignity  to  Deity  to  allow  the  two  to  have  place  side  by  side, 
much  more  to  allow  the  vile  to  displace  the  sacred  in  mind  or 
thought. 

Again,  let  parents  spend  more  time  reading  good  books  to 
their  children.  Gather  them  together  during  the  day  and  read 
to  them  some  wholesome  tale,  history,  or  other  work,  that 
shall  help  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  expanding  heart ;  that  shall 
cultivate  the  taste  and  lay  a  healthy  foundation  upon  which  to 
build  in  after  years. 

I  entered  a  quiet  little  home  recently  to  call  upon  a  friend, 
a  mother  of  two  children  about  six  and  eight  years  of  age.  She 
came  down  at  once,  just  as  she  was,  with  an  apology  for  not 
being  dressed  for  the  afternoon,  saying  she  sat  down  to  rest  a 
few  moments  after  dinner,  and  had  been  reading  to  her  children, 
and  they,  becoming  interested,  had  kept  her  nearly  two  hours. 
God  bless  such  mothers  !  They  are  worthy  of  loving  children. 


CONCL  USION.  245 

No  dress  or  finery  could  have  made  that  mother  more  present- 
able to  any  sensible  person.  It  spoke  volumes — companion, 
teacher,  helper,  friend,  and  mother  to  these  children. 

The  boy  may  go  wild  despite  all  such  influences,  and  yet  the 
chances  are,  even  if  he  does,  that  the  memory  of  such  a  mother 
will  cause  him  to  awaken,  rise  up  and  call  her  blessed. 

As  soon  as  the  babe  is  born  the  duty  of  the  mother  is 
changed.  A  human  soul  is  placed  in  her  hands  to  care  for, 
instruct,  and  bring  up  for  the  Master.  A  high  and  sacred 
duty.  Fashionable  society  no  longer  should  have  a  control 
over  her.  This  gift  from  Heaven  is  not  a  small  thing,  to  be 
intrusted  to  some  ignorant  and  often  vicious  servant  girl,  but 
constant  care  is  required  to  preserve  its  precious  form.  Should 
less  care  or  zeal  be  manifested  in  later  years  to  preserve  it 
morally  pure  and  strong  ? 

What  use  has  the  mother  for  blasphemous  or  godless  litera- 
ture ?  Condense  it  all  together,  and  it  has  not  saved  a  soul 
from  death,  and  it  cannot.  What  use  has  the  parent  for  the 
sickening  details  of  crimes  ?  All  combined  they  have  not  made 
an  honest  or  pure  man,  and  they  cannot.  What  use  for  the 
trashy  boy  and  girl  story  papers  ?  They  have  never  made  a 
grand  heroic  character  in  any  child  whom  they  have  captivated. 
No,  clear  the  home  of  these  evils,  as  you  would  the  seeds  of 
disease.  Exterminate  them,  or  the  probabilities  are  they  will 
destroy  the  bright,  pure  being  that  God  has  given  you. 

Parents,  ask  yourselves  which  is  of  more  importance,  the 
moral  purity,  spiritual  welfare,  and  the  cultivated  intellect  of 
the  boy  or  girl,  or  their  temporary  amusement,  secured  at  the 
sacrifice  of  these  higher  attributes. 

All  the  nobler  qualities  of  the  mind,  the  developments  of 
the  intellect,  the  nobility  of  character,  the  unlimited  possibili- 
ties of  the  future,  and  the  salvation  of  the  soul  are  jeoparded 
when  parents  are  indifferent  as  to  what  their  children  read. 


THE  words  of  Washington,  as  spoken  in  his  Farewell  Address, 
may  well  be  read  by  every  patriot  of  to-day.     There  occurs  a 


246  CONCLUSION. 

beautiful  passage  on  political  morality,  which  every  true  citizen 
living  in  this  free  republic  would  do  well  to  lay  to  heart.  He 
says  : 

"  Of  all  the  dispositions  and  habits  which  lead  to  political 
prosperity,  religion  and  morality  are  indispensable  supports. 
In  vain  would  that  man  claim  the  tribute  of  patriotism  who 
should  labor  to  subvert  these  great  pillars  of  human  happiness, 
these  firmest  of  props  of  the  duties  of  men  and  citizens.  The 
mere  politician,  equally  with  the  pious  man,  ought  to  respect 
and  to  cherish  them.  A  volume  could  not  trace  all  their  con- 
nections with  private  and  public  felicity.  Let  it  simply  be 
asked,  Where  is  the  security  for  property,  for  reputation,  for 
life,  if  the  sense  of  religious  obligation  desert  the  oaths  which 
are  the  instruments  of  investigation  in  courts  of  justice  ?  And 
let  us  with  caution  indulge  the  supposition,  that  morality  can 
be  maintained  without  religion.  Whatever  may  be  conceded 
to  the  influence  of  refined  education  on  minds  of  peculiar 
structure,  reason  and  experience  both  forbid  us  to  expect  that 
national  morality  can  prevail  in  exclusion  of  religious  princi- 
ples. 

"It  is  substantially  true,  that  virtue  or  morality  is  a  neces- 
sary spring  of  popular  government.  The  rule,  indeed,  extends 
with  more  or  less  force  to  every  species  of  free  government 
Who  that  is  a  sincere  friend  to  it  can  look  with  indifference 
upon  attempts  to  shake  the  foundation  of  the  fabric  ? 

"  Promote,  then,  as  an  object  of  primary  importance,  insti- 
tutions for  the  general  diffusion  of  knowledge.  In  proportion 
as  the  structure  of  a  government  gives  force  to  public  opinion, 
it  is  essential  that  public  opinion  should  be  enlightened. ' ' 


THE    END. 


APPENDIX. 


"!T  is  not  generally  known  here  that  Simmons  &  Dickin- 
son advertise  and  sell  in  New  York,  and  perhaps  other  Eastern 
cities,  for  a  single-number  lottery  to  be  drawn  here  on  the  ist 
and  1 5th  of  every  month.  Such  is  the  fact,  however,  for  we 
have  before  us  the  New  York  Herald  with  such  an  advertise- 
ment, headed  '  Old  Reliable  Kentucky  State  Lottery,'  etc.,  and 
fixing  the  drawing  for  the  I5th  of  this  month.  On  that  day 
(early  in  the  morning)  a  ticket- holder,  suspecting  something 
wrong,  went  to  the  room  on  the  south-west  corner  of  Madison 
and  Fifth  Streets,  this  city,  where  Simmons,  Dickinson  &  Co.'s 
drawings  take  place,  and  was  informed  by  one  of  the  commis- 
sioners that  the  drawing  of  the  single-number  lottery  for  that 
day  would  take  place  at  10  o'clock.  Every  fifteen  or  twenty 
minutes  either  the  ticket-holder  or  a  friend  went  to  the  door  of 
the  room,  which  had  been  locked,  and  looking  through  the 
key- hole,  saw  the  wheel,  with  the  ballots  in  it,  standing  in  a 
line  between  the  point  of  view  and  a  front  window.  It  was 
clearly  not  disturbed  during  the  morning  up  to  10. 10,  for  it  takes 
from  one  and  a  half  to  two  hours  to  make  a  single-number 
drawing,  and  the  wheel  was  seen  every  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes 
as  stated.  At  10. 10  A.M.  the  ticket-holder  again  went  to  the 
room,  when  he  found  entrance,  and  was  told  that  the  drawing 
had  already  taken  place.  He  respectfully  doubted  the  report, 
and  justified  his  doubt  by  pointing  to  the  wheel,  with  the  bal- 
lots still  in  it  and  the  dust  on  it,  as  it  had  been  in  the  early 
morning,  but  he  could  get  no  other  answer.  He  was  promised 
a  copy  of  the  drawing  at  i  p.  M.  ,  but  on  applying  at  that  time 
was  told  that  instructions  had  been  given  not  to  let  him  see  it" 


248  APPENDIX, 

On  the  1 8th  the  list  of  drawn  numbers  appeared  in  the  New 
York  Herald.  Affidavits  were  made  to  these  facts,  and  filed 
with  the  Attorney- General  of  the  State. 

Now  there  are  several  points  worth  noting  in  this  "  o'ertrue 
tale."  It  would  be  easy  to  put  only  a  certain  number  of 
tickets  on  the  market,  and  only  the  reserved  numbers  in  the 
wheel.  We  can't  suspect  anything  of  the  kind,  however,  for 
these  lottery  Brutuses  are  "  honorable  men."  The  lottery 
grant  under  which  Messrs.  Simmons,  Dickinson  &  Co.  are 
operating  gives  no  authority  for  a  single-number  lottery,  and 
any  such  lottery  drawn  under  it  is  in  violation  of  the  law,  and 
subjects  them  to  the  penalties  of  the  statute  against  gaming.  Is 
that  the  reason  why  the  drawing  is  not  advertised,  nor  the 
tickets  sold  inside  of  the  State  ? 

If  the  lottery  was  not  drawn  here  as  advertised,  fairly  and 
openly,  then  the  New  York  ticket-holders  were  duped.  If  it 
was  so  drawn,  then  Simmons,  Dickinson  &  Co.  are  liable  to 
prosecution.  The  list  of  numbers  said  to  have  been  drawn  in 
the  lottery  which  took  place  here  on  the  i5th  instant,  under 
the  circumstances  related,  was  advertised  in  the  New  York 
Herald  of  the  i8th,  with  the  names  of  the  two  commissioners 
attached.  Perhaps  they  will  rise  and  explain  a  little. 

IN  THE  UNITED  STATES  COURT,  DISTRICT  OF 
KENTUCKY. 

SIMMONS  &  DICKINSON     \ 

vs.  V 

MURRAY,  MILLER  &  Co.  j 

Extracts  from  the  deposition  of  R.  H.  Ramsey,  Simmons  & 
Dickinson's  sworn  commissioner,  taken  at  Louisville,  Ky. : 

Q.   State  your  name,  place  of  residence,  and  occupation. 

A.  R.  H.  Ramsey,  Covington,  Ky. ;  occupation,  lottery 
commissioner. 

Q.  How  many  years  have  you  been  connected  with  Simmons 
&  Dickinson  ? 


APPENDIX.  249 

A.  Ever  since  that  firm  has  been  in  existence  I  have  been  in 
the  employ  of  that  firm. 

Q.  What  are  your  duties  as  commissioner  ? 

A.  My  duties  as  commissioner  are  to  see  that  the  drawing  is 
properly  conducted,  to  put  the  numbers  in,  to  keep  a  record  of 
the  numbers  as  they  are  drawn,  and  certify  to  the  drawing. 

Q.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that  you  are  sworn  to  see  that  the  drawing 
is  fairly  conducted  as  commissioner  ? 

A.  To  see  that  the  drawing  is  faithfully  conducted,  faithfully 
and  impartially  drawn. 

Q.  Is  it  not  true  that,  as  commissioner  of  the  drawings, 
you  are  supposed  to  and  ought  to  know  for  whose  benefit  and 
what  the  drawing  is  ;  don't  you  certify  to  that  effect  ? 

A.   No  sir,  I  do  not 

Q.   Then  you  draw  the  lottery  without  knowing  what  it  is  for  ? 

A.   It  is  not  my  business  to  know. 

Q.  You  are  commissioner  for  these  lotteries,  one  grant 
specifying  you  could  draw  a  certain  lottery,  and  the  other  that 
you  could  not,  and  you  were  drawing  the  lotteries  and  did  not 
know  what  grant  you  were  drawing  under  ? 

A.  As  I  said  before,  it  was  none  of  my  business. 

Q.  At  what  place  did  you  meet  the  gentleman,  and  under 
what  circumstances  ? 

A.  I  met  him  at  the  office  of  Simmons  &  Dickinson,  on  the 
south-west  corner  of  Fifth  and  Madison  streets,  in  Covington 
about  the  time  described,  a  gentleman  came  into  the  office,  I 
think  it  was  about  seven  and  a  half  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
not  later  than  seven  and  a  half  o'clock,  and  made  some  in- 
quiries in  regard  to  the  single-number  drawing  reported  to  take 
place  that  day.  He  asked  me  if  the  drawing  would  take  place 
at  that  place,  and  at  what  hour.  I  stated  to  him  that  it  would, 
and  at  ten  o'clock. 

Q.  State  under  what  circumstances  you  first  saw  the  gentle- 
man ? 

A.   I  stated  that  already. 

Q.   State  it  again. 


250  APPENDIX. 

A.  Well,  I  did  not  know  the  gentleman  when  he  came  in, 
by  name.  As  I  said,  there  was  a  gentleman  came  in  and  made 
some  inquiries  in  regard  to  the  single-number  drawing.  I 
went  off  and  hunted  Mr.  Dickinson,  and  presented  the  gentle- 
man to  him.  We  immediately  made  preparation  to  draw  the 
single-number  lottery  between  the  time  I  told  the  gentleman 
and  ten  o'clock. 

Q.   Between  what  hours  ? 

A.   Between  eight  and  half-past  nine  o'clock. 

Q.  You  told  the  gentleman  it  would  be  at  ten  o'clock  ? 

A.  As  I  say,  we  were  suspicious,  and  we  changed  the  time. 

Q.  How  do  you  know  there  are  a  hundred  thousand  num- 
bers in  the  wheel  ? 

A.   Because  I  put  them  in. 

Q.   Do  you  put  them  in  every  drawing  ? 
.  A.   No,  sir. 

Q.  How  long  since  you  counted  those  one  hundred  thou- 
sand numbers  ? 

A.   I  have  counted  them  myself  but  the  once. 

Q.  Did  you  put  them  in  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir. 

Q.   Have  you  counted  them  since  you  put  them  in  ? 

A.   No,  sir. 

Q.  What  time  is  it  since  you  counted  them  and  put  them  in  ? 

A.  I  don't  know  ;  perhaps  a  year  or  a  year  and  a  half  ago 
since  the  numbers  were  placed  in  the  lottery. 

Q.  What  time  in  the  day  do  these  single-number  drawings 
take  place  ? 

A.  Well,  when  we  do  not  expect  any  trouble,  the  usual  time 
is  half-past  twelve,  commencing  at  half-past  twelve  ;  that  is  the 
usual  hour. 

Q.  Who  assists  you  in  supervising  these  drawings  ? 

A.   Mr.  Croninger  is  the  other  commissioner. 

Q.   You  were  both  present  during  this  drawing  spoken  of  ? 

A.  Yes,  sir  ;  sometimes  Mr.  Croninger  is  not  there  all  the 
time  of  the  drawing.  He  is  a  printer,  also  prints  the  drawings. 


APPENDIX.  25 1 

Q.  Did  any  person  witness  the  drawing  on  the  day  on  which 
/ou  drew  between  half-past  eight  and  nine,  besides  yourself 
and  Mr.  Croninger  ? 

A.  No  one  at  all. 

Q.  The  doors  were  locked  ? 

A.   Yes,  sir. 

Q.  No  one  could  get  in  ? 

A.  No  one  could  get  in. 

Q.  What  lottery  were  you  drawing  at  that  time  ? 

A.  We  were  drawing  the  Kentucky  State  Lottery.  We  are 
furnished  the  schemes  by  the  managers,  and  we  draw  the  lot- 
teries under  these  schemes.  I  do  not  know  what  grants. 

Q.  You  have  not  known,  then,  for  several  years,  under  what 
grants  they  were  drawing  their  single-number  lotteries  ? 

A.  No,  sir. 

Are  Simmons  &  Dickinson's  combination  lotteries  honestly 
conducted  and  worthy  of  public  patronage  ? 

READ  !  READ  !  READ  ! 

Extracts  from  letters  written  by  Z.  E.  Simmons,  of  the  firm 
of  Simmons  &  Dickinson,  to  one  of  his  former  associates  : 

"  DEAR  BILL  :  Make  it  32,  35,  47. 

"Yours  truly,  Z.  E.  S." 

"  Please  change  21  and  70  to  something  else. 

"Yours  truly,  Z.  E.  S.' 

Copy  from  drawings  issued  by  Simmons  &  Dickinson, 
August  25th,  1879  : 

' '  The  subscribers,  commissioners  appointed  to  superintend 
the  drawing  of  the  Kentucky  State  Lottery,  for  the  benefit  of 
Henry  Academy  and  Henry  Female  College,  do  hereby  certify 
that  the  following  are  the  numbers  which  were  this  day  drawn 
from  the  seventy-eight  placed  in  the  wheel,  viz.,  class  No.  501, 


252  APPENDIX. 

for  1879,  45,30,  59,  42,  37,  34,  3,  '8,  27,  31,  19,  61,  44,  and 
that  the  said  numbers  were  drawn  in  the  order  in  which  they 
stand  above. 

' '  Witness  our  hands  at  Covington,  Ky. ,  this  Monday,  August 
25th,  1879. 

"  R.  H.  RAMSEY, 
"  L.  D.  CRONINGER, 

"  Sworn  Commissioners. 
"  SIMMONS  &  DICKINSON, 

"  Managers." 
And  again  : 

"  The  subscribers,  commissioners  appointed  to  superintend 
the  drawing  of  the  Frankfort  Lottery  of  Kentucky,  for  the 
support  of  the  public  school  of  the  city  of  Frankfort,  class 
No.  501,  for  1879,  hereby  certify  that  the  following  are  the 
numbers  which  were  this  day  drawn  from  the  seventy-eight 
placed  in  the  wheel,  viz.,  45,  30,  59,  42,  37,  34,  3,  18,  27, 
31,  19,  61,  44,  and  the  said  numbers  were  drawn  in  the  order 
in  which  they  stand  above. 

1 '  Witness  our  hands  at  Covington,  Ky. ,  this  Monday,  August 
25th,  1879. 

"  R.  H.  RAMSEY, 
"  L.  D.  CRONINGER, 

"  Sworn  Commissioners. 
11  SIMMONS  &  DICKINSON, 

"  Managers." 

Is  there  any  person  who  is  possessed  of  any  intelligence  but 
that  can  plainly  see  that  it  is  an  impossibility  for  Simmons  & 
Dickinson  to  draw  two  lotteries  at  the  same  time,  in  the  same 
place,  in  the  same  class,  and  have  the  drawn  numbers  identi- 
cally the  same  in  each  drawing,  and  in  the  exact  order  drawn  ? 
Is  not  this  a  palpable  fraud  ? 

Ticket-buyers  in  Simmons  &  Dickinson's  "  lotteries,"  care- 
fully digest  what  is  above  written,  and  govern  yourselves  ac- 
cordingly. 


APPENDIX.  2-ft 

"  The  undersigned  own  exclusively  every  lottery  grant  in  the 
State  of  Kentucky,  and  every  drawing,  circular,  notice,  or  ad- 
vertisement not  signed  with  our  firm  name  relates  to  a  lottery 
not  drawn  at  all,  or,  if  drawn,  it  is  done  unlawfully  and  in  vio- 
lation of  the  law  of  the  State  and  the  decisions  of  the  courts. 

"  MURRAY,  FRANCE  &  Co., 
"  Managers  and  Owners  of  all  Legalized 
Kentucky  State  Lotteries. ' ' 

"  No/ice. 

' '  As  Simmons  &  Dickinson  are  advertising  and  drawing  a 
lottery  under  a  certain  contract  from  the  city  of  Frankfort, 
dated  December  jist,  1875,  and  claiming  the  sole  ownership 
of  same,  this  is  to  notify  all  whom  it  may  concern,  that  said 
contract  is  owned  solely  by  the  undersigned,  as  the  records  of 
the  city  of  Frankfort  will  show,  and  I  am  in  no  manner  con- 
nected with  Simmons  &  Dickinson,  and  they  are  operating  said 
lottery  without  authority  from  me  and  in  violation  of  law. 

"  E.  S.  STEWART. 
"LOUISVILLE,  KY.,  November  21,  1879." 


University  of  California 

SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 

305  De  Neve  Drive  -  Parking  Lot  17  •  Box  951388 

LOS  ANGELES,  CALIFORNIA  90095-1388 

Return  this  material  to  the  library  from  which  it  was  borrowed. 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL  LIBRARY  FACILITY 


A     000  965  489     8 


